Designers taking ladders to the next rung By Frank Bentayou, Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH
Experienced people hurt themselves with even well-designed tools all the time. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that some 65,000 people visit the emergency room each year because of ladder accidents. Worse, the National Safety Council chronicles more than 6,000 deaths from falls at home each year, most from ladders.
Often, the data show, accidents happen because the tool didn't match the job.
Designers Paige and his colleagues at CIA focus on creating products whose forms clearly reflect their use. Ladders, which have been around for a long time, are not exempt from a multistep design process.