Abstract: Employee #1 was ascending a Roto ceiling mounted, pull down, attic, metal, two-piece extension ladder, carrying a coil of wire in one hand. The ladder was posted ANSIA14.2, 1982, load 200 lb. The ladder was locked in place and had been used without incident by other workers, some of whom weighed as much as 235 lb. Employee #1 weighs 218 lb and is a 6 ft 5 in. male in good physical shape with no handicaps. With equipment, Employee #1 may have weighed 260 lb. Employee #1 fell approximately 5 ft to the cement when the ladder pulled apart at the locking mechanism. Employee #1 required hospitalization for a fractured ankle. The ladder was reassembled and remains in use. Employee #1 did not fall because he lost his balance. Testing demonstrated that the ladder's locks break apart when approximately 50 lb of perpendicular force is applied in a certain upward direction on one leg of the ladder. The bottom section then rotates in the opposite downward direction.