Be careful up there

Do it yourselfers take note:

A new study finds the number of ladder-related injuries in the U.S. increased by more than 50 percent from 1990 to 2005. - about 136,000 people a year. The study appears in the May issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The CDC says ladder accidents are usually caused by improper selection, care and use.

The new study finds, about 77 percent of those injured - and fractures were the most common injury - were men. Almost 10 percent of those injured needed to be hospitalized; about twice the overall admission rate for consumer-product related injuries.

That figure prompted the study's co author to say "Ladders should be treated with the same respect and caution as any potentially dangerous tool, such as a power saw."

Good advice.

http://www.cdc.gov/nasd/docs/d000801-d000900/d000877/d000877.html