Each year in the U.S., over 164,000 emergency room visits and 300 deaths are caused by falls from a ladder. Inspired by his father, Paul Stentiford has invented a simple device that makes climbing ladders safer. A general contractor, Paul and his son developed six prototypes over two years and are now moving their product to market. Paul remembers helping his father on carpentry jobs when he was four years old, and remembers him always figuring out how to make using tools less dangerous.

TRANSCRIPT:

Intro: 0:01

Inventors and their inventions. Welcome to Radio Cade the podcast from the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention in Gainesville, Florida. The museum is named after James Robert Cade, who invented Gatorade in 1965. My name is Richard Miles. We'll introduce you to inventors and the things that motivate them, we'll learn about their personal stories, how their inventions work and how their ideas get from the laboratory to the marketplace.

Richard Miles: 0:37

Making ladders safer and reducing accidents at home and on the job. Welcome to your Cade . I'm your host, Richard Miles . And today I'll be talking to Paul Stentiford President and CEO of Stantiford Safety Services and a finalist for the 2020 Cade Prize. Welcome to Radio Cade, Paul .

Paul Stentiford: 0:54

Thank you. Happy to be here.

Richard Miles: 0:56

Let's start right away and talk about your invention because to me, I think it's fascinating that it's both extremely useful, but very simple by design and simple to use from what I've seen, most people are familiar with ladders. So I'd like listeners to understand from the get go, what is the problem that you're trying to solve and exactly how your invention works? Why don't you describe a standard extension ladder, which I think most people have seen, or they've used a lot of homeowners, handyman have standard extension ladders. So what is the problem with those ladders? And then tell us how your invention fixes that.

Paul Stentiford: 1:28

Sure. It's only for extension ladders. Anyone that's familiar with one, there are two sections that slide together. If you want to traverse up to a roof area, you are going to set the ladder, the appropriate distance from the wall and start with a rope, pulling the second section, the top section up. So as it slides up to the desired height where your leaning it against the house, and then you start climbing it when you climb it, where that second section is, is the traverse area. That's difficult because you have an overlapping section that you have to step out over that step. More importantly, when you're coming down, because it's in about two and a half inches to the next step. That's where the problem area is. This device is basically all aluminum welded, three steps that gradually take you to the fourth step down below that offset by half inch increments. In other words, you could hook this on the ladder right below the offset. It's two vertical side rails at rest on the side rails of each ladder on right and left. And then the steps overhang onto the rungs of the ladder below the offset. So that if you took a straight edge, if you can picture this, took a straight edge from where that next rung is on the offset and sticks out and go four rungs down. This device would plane out with the nose of each of those steps. So your foot cannot miss it.

Richard Miles: 2:46

When you entered the Cade Prize and foresaw the application, I have a tendency to read too quickly. And so my first impression was it A, this was like a different type of ladder. And then B, that your de