Louisville Ladder is recalling more than one million attic stair ladders because of the risk of injury, according to Eyewitness News ABC7NY. The recall covers a large number of the pull-down stairways found in homes across the country.
The action comes at the direction of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The agency says that bolts on these stairway ladders can break, creating a hazard for anyone using them.
If those bolts give way, the commission warns, whoever is climbing the stairs at the time could take a serious fall. That danger is at the heart of the decision to pull the product from use and offer a fix.
According to the report, there have been 11 reports of the bolts breaking so far. Among those, there is one known case in which a person suffered head, neck and back injuries in connection with the failure.
The recalled stairs were sold widely, both online and in big box stores. Retailers that carried them included major chains such as Home Depot and Lowe's, putting them within easy reach of homeowners.
Louisville Ladder is offering free repair kits to all of the affected customers. The kits are meant to address the faulty bolts so that the stairs can be used safely rather than posing a fall risk.