The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is recalling more than 3.6 million Little Giant ladders after receiving dozens of reports of injuries, including head trauma and skull fractures.
The ladders, according to the recall, have a mechanism called “Rapid Locks” that are designed to be inserted into the ladders’ rungs to help adjust the height.
According to a statement from Little Giant, the Rapid Locks can fail to become fully engaged, causing the ladders to retract and posing a potential fall hazard to consumers.
The company has received 25 reports of the ladders retracting, 19 of which resulted in injury.
Those incidents resulted in three reports of head injuries which, according to the recall, include traumatic brain injury, skull fractures, concussions, vision loss, hearing loss and cognitive impairment.
The company has also received 16 reports of other injuries such as joint or bone fractures, lacerations and bruising.
Overall, the company has received 39 reports of the Rapid Locks not working properly.
The recall involves 11 makes of Little Giant’s ladders and over 130 models ranging from $100 to $1,000.
Little Giant is adding supplemental warning labels to affected ladders, instructing users to visually verify that all Rapid Locks are fully engaged before climbing.
“You should stop using your ladder until you have received and applied the warning labels included in the repair kit according to the enclosed instructions, which contain further guidance on safely operating the Rapid Locks and maintaining the Rapid Locks with lubrication,” Little Giant said in a statement announcing the recall.
The company is also sending repair kits to all known users with Rapid Locks malfunctions.
“The repair kit contains instructions, also accessible via the QR code on the ladder, for safely operating the Rapid Locks and maintaining the Rapid Locks with lubrication,” the company added.
CPSC advised consumers to maintain the Little Giant ladders’ Rapid Locks with lubrication and to evaluate their ladders on a regular basis.
“If a lock does not function properly after this evaluation, the company will offer the choice of a replacement ladder of the same or equivalent model or a refund ranging from a depreciated value determined by date of purchase up to full purchase price for ladders purchased within the past 12 months,” CPSC said in the recall.