Abstract: A landscaping foreman with 4 years of experience with his employer was trimming a hedge, a tall Eugenia shrub. He was working from his employer's 4.9-meter-long Tallman tripod orchard ladder and was about 4 meters above the ground, trimming at a height of 4.8 meters. The orchard ladder was damaged--it had a defective pole. The pole bent, and the ladder collapsed, causing the employee to fall. The worker fractured his ankle in several places, and emergency medical services transported him to a hospital. He had surgery on his ankle and was hospitalized for 3 days. The day before the accident, the employee informed his manager that the ladder was defective.