29 CFR § 1918.23 - Jacob's ladders.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t29/s1918.23"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "29 CFR § 1918.23 - Jacob's ladders."
title_number: 29
title_name: "Labor"
section_number: "1918.23"
section_name: "Jacob's ladders."
chapter_name: "OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR"
part_number: "1918"
part_name: "SAFETY AND HEALTH REGULATIONS FOR LONGSHORING"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "33 U.S.C. 941; 29 U.S.C. 653, 655, 657; Secretary of Labor's Order No. 12-71 (36 FR 8754), 8-76 (41 FR 25059), 9-83 (48 FR 35736), 1-90 (55 FR 9033), 6-96 (62 FR 111), 3-2000 (65 FR 50017), 5-2002 (67 FR 65008), 5-2007 (72 FR 31160), 4-2010 (75 FR 55355), 1-2012 (77 FR 3912), or 8-2020 (85 FR 58393), as applicable; and 29 CFR 1911."
regulatory_source: "62 FR 40202, July 25, 1997, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "1918"
---


# 1918.23 Jacob's ladders.

(a) Jacob's ladders shall be of the double rung or flat tread type. They shall be well maintained and properly secured.

(b) A Jacob's ladder shall either hang without slack from its lashings or be pulled up entirely.

(c) When a Jacob's ladder is used as the means of access to a barge being worked, spacers (bumpers) shall be hung between the vessel, barge, or other structure to which the barge is tied alongside, or other equally effective means shall be provided to prevent damage to the bottom rungs of the ladder.

(d) When a Jacob's ladder is being used so that there is a danger of an employee falling or being crushed between the vessel, barge, or other structure (pier), suitable protection shall be provided.