Millions of Americans will begin putting up Christmas lights and trees in the weeks ahead, and many will rely on ladders to hang the decorations just right.
But now the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued an alert notifying consumers that 3.6 million ladders are being recalled because they could unexpectedly retract.
And unfortunately, numerous people have already sustained broken bones, brain damage, and other injuries as a result. Here’s what you need to know.
What’s happened?
On November 5, the CPSC published a recall notice alerting consumers that approximately 3,662,000 ladders made by Little Giant Ladder Systems were being recalled after the company received several reports of the ladders unexpectedly retracting, causing serious injuries to users.
The CPSC is warning that “The ladders can suddenly retract if the Rapid Locks are not fully engaged, posing a fall hazard to consumers.”
It explains that the Rapid Locks are black or orange components on the ladders’ legs, designed to be inserted to adjust the ladders’ height. When the Rapid Locks don’t work as intended, the ladders can suddenly retract, causing the user to fall and sustain serious injuries.
Little Giant has also published its own recall notice, in which the ladder manufacturer warns of the same hazard.
Have people been injured?
Unfortunately, yes. And the injuries are serious.
According to the CPSC notice, Little Giant has received 39 reports of the Rapid Locks not working properly on its ladders. It has also received 25 reports of the ladders retracting.
Further, the company has received 19 reports of people being injured. The most serious are three reports of head injuries, which include:
- traumatic brain injury
- skull fracture
- concussion
- vision loss
- hearing loss
- cognitive impairment
The 16 other injuries reported include:
- joint or bone fracture
- lacerations
- bruising
Which ladders are being recalled?
The CPSC says the following models of Little Giant ladders are being recalled:
- Adjustable Fortress 2.0
- Conquest 2.0
- Dark Horse 2.0
- Epic
- King Kombo XT
- Leveler
- MegaLite
- MegaLite+
- Multi
- Quantum
- Vector
“The brand name Little Giant and the model name are located on the side of the ladder,” the notice notes. “Only ladders without an orange rectangular ‘QC’ sticker on the rail above one of the Rapid Locks are included in this recall.”
Little Giant’s recall notice lists the specific part numbers of the various ladder models being recalled, which you can find here.
Where were the recalled ladders sold?
The more than 3.6 million ladders included in this recall were sold nationally between December 2015 and October 2026. The ladders sold for anywhere from around $100 to around $1,000.
The affected ladders were sold in the following stores:
- Lowe’s
- Costco
- other stores nationwide
They were also sold online at:
- Lowes.com
- Amazon.com
- Costco.com
- LittleGiantLadders.com
- other websites
What to do if you have a recalled ladder
The CPSC says that consumers should stop using the affected ladders immediately until they review the Little Giant ladders recall page, or the information provided by scanning the QR code on the ladders, and contact Little Giant for a repair kit.
That repair kit contains “additional instructions and labels, which should be affixed to the ladder,” the CPSC notice states. The additional instructions “advise consumers to verify that their Rapid Locks are properly engaged before every use and to maintain their locks with lubrication.”
If the ladder does not function properly after that, consumers should contact Little Giant for an evaluation. If the ladder fails to act as intended, Little Giant will then replace it with an equivalent model or offer a refund.
Owners of ladders included in the recall are urged to read both recall notices for full instructions and contact Little Giant with any questions.
A spokesperson for Little Giant Ladder Services emailed the following statement:
“We recently identified a very small number of instances out of the more than 3.6 million Rapid Lock ladders sold since 2015 in which the locks had not been properly engaged before use. Out of an abundance of caution, we initiated a voluntary recall of the affected ladders in coordination with the CPSC. Through this recall, we will be providing at no expense to each customer new warning labels and additional instructional materials to help them verify that the Rapid Locks on their ladder are properly engaged before every use. These additional instructions also urge customers to maintain their Rapid Locks with proper lubrication.”