Husky Ladder Stabilizers – Deadly design flaw!

PLS RT to your loved ones. DONT BUY HUSKY LADDER STABILIZERS from Home DEPOT! http://ht.ly/2qoPd #deadly




If you have anyone you care about that works on a ladder, warn them about Husky Ladder Stabilizers. One nearly killed my uncle last week. [Home Depot Husky Ladder Stabilizer #479709]


Just over a week ago, my uncle Pat, his friend Eddie, and I were doing some work on my house while they were visiting me here in Atlanta. We went over to the Home Depot at Lindbergh Plaza to purchase all of our supplies and gear. We grabbed a 24’ Wenger Utility Ladder and a Husky
Brand Ladder Stabilizer, both rated for 300lbs.


That Saturday, my uncle was 15’-18’ up on the ladder, working on the house when the Stabilizer failed and broke. If Eddie had not been footing the ladder, Pat would have plunged into a plate glass window. Luckily, Eddie and Pat both spend much of their lives on Ladders since they are journeymen in the IBEW, the electrical workers union. Their years of experience probably saved his life.

If you look at the photos, you can see why this is a potentially deadly product. The unit is made of plastic.While rated to a 300lb weight specification, matching the ladder itself, the plastic split along the 90 degree angle of the sleeves which are designed to fit over the end of the ladder. Other Stabilizers are constructed of metal. They are usually designed to connect to the ladder with a tube that bisects the ladder struts in those holes you see on the side walls of a ladder. I always wondered what purpose was served by those holes, now I know.

In any case, now I know why my uncle was grumbling when I bought the unit. Tt was $15 cheaper, but really, why would Home depot have a product on the sales floor if it was not up to scratch? Well, they do, and you should avoid this one.

We are just lucky my uncle and Eddie were not physically injured. Whether or not one or both may have suffered mental trauma to the extent that they will not be able climb a ladder again, that is another matter. I hope not, since they have to use ladders for their livelihood as electricians!

Upon returning the failed unit to the Home depot the next day, August 8th, the Assistant Manager took pictures and moved to pull the product from the floor. Following up on this issue to determine to what extent Home Depot would respond to this, since all the other stores are selling this same product, I have been trying to get some form of verbal commitment from corporate HD to actively looking into this matter.


Getting Home Depot to take responsibility and pull the units from their stores until a review has been completed has actually been slow going. The Assistant Manager passed the info up the ladder, and that is all he could with it, having already done what he could at the store level.


Home Depot outsources Risk management to a company called Sedgwick CMS. At Sedgwick, I spoke with a Jonathan Brookes who was basically unhelpful. I not even sure what we accomplished on the call other than to iterate what happened. I asked him to suggest to Home Depot that the product be pulled until a proper testing on the unit could be performed, outlining the obvious liability implied by Home Depot if they were to continue to market this unit after knowing of a critical failure resulting from the unit’s design that is life threatening to their customers. He simply said he can’t tell that to Home Depot, since he does not work for Home Depot. I explained that outsourced companies do have communications channels with the company on whose behalf they operate. He said he would tell his boss, and maybe his boss would pass it along, but that is all he could do. He gave me Home Depot’s customer service number so I could tell them personally about the problem. Bear in mind, they should already be aware of it since Sedgwick was calling to assess the liability risks.




The call into Home Depot Customer service fared a little better. (Micaiah Holley (800) 654-0688 x76490 Ref#50054995) Mr. Holley listened to my position that 1000’s of other customers who bought this product are a time bomb ticking away until they go up on a ladder that one last, fatal time. If Home Depot would react quickly and decisively to pull the units off the floor until a through testing were performed, then it would go a long way to shielding Home Depot from subsequent claims. He said he would pass that along.


Meanwhile, I did check in with the Assistant Manager at the store level. The other stores still sell the unit, but his store does not. Tricam, the manufacturer of this Husky product for the Home Depot, contacted me. They claimed, of course, that the unit was thoroughly tested before it was ever sold to the public, and this is the "only" instance he has heard of it failing. Right. I calmly said, the only thing I want here is for the product to be pulled until a 3rd party testing and examination of the unit has been completed and to be updated on the status of the progress during the review process. Otherwise, it would necessary to engage the "Sharks", and yes there is sufficient grounds, and can you imagine how many other units are out there just waiting to fail, assuming they have not already failed?


Welcome to Corporatations where doing the right thing is never straightforward, logical, or even doable owing to all the legal implications of acting decisively to reduce further risk, since by doing so, you may be tacitly admitting your guilt by your action of removing/recalling the product. 


Ed Norton's character in Fight Club perfectly sums up this mentality.