Franklin extension or straight ladders

1 report to CPSC, the latest made Dec 15, 2025. A report isn’t a recall.

Watch it to hear when CPSC publishes new reports about it. CPSC’s own search

Watch and the shortlist are kept with a free account, on every device. Your watch list. CPSC’s own search is on saferproducts.gov.

At a glance

From SaferProducts.gov, released Oct 25, 2026.

1report to CPSC
Dec 15, 2025the latest report was made
Dec 15, 2025the earliest
1with the company’s comments

Brand: Franklin
Maker: Harbor Freight ToolsMakers, importers or sellers, as the reports name them
Product: Extension or straight laddersCPSC’s product type: Extension or Straight Ladders (code 4077), in Home Maintenance and Structures: Ladders

By month

1 report from January 2025 to December 2025; the most in December 2025, 1.

The numbers, as a table

Reports to CPSC by the month each was made, newest first
Month	Reports
December 2025	1

How badly anyone was hurt

Hospital admission 1 CPSC: Injury, Hospital Admission

As each report says it, in short words; CPSC’s own words are under each.

The reports, as CPSC published them

Reports people made to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. CPSC publishes each one after sending it to the company named, and doesn’t guarantee they’re accurate. A report isn’t a recall.

Each report is the words of the person who made it, as CPSC published them. The company’s comments, where CPSC published any, are set apart as the company’s own.

CPSC, SaferProducts.gov public database export. Released Oct 25, 2026. Updated daily.

Hospital admission
Made Dec 15, 2025, sent to the company Dec 18, 2025, published by CPSC Jan 14, 2026

The product, in the report: Franklin-brand 17-foot Multi-Task Ladder. Imported/sold by Harbor Freight. We believe the manufacturer to be Jiangsu Yingdeli Industrial Co.

I am an attorney, and my client has authorized me to submit this report on his behalf. My client purchased a Franklin-brand 17-foot Multi-Task Ladder from his local Harbor Freight in Huntsville, AL, approximately May of 2024. He was a healthy, 31-year-old married man who enjoyed doing home improvement and repair projects around his familys properties. For about seven months, he used the Franklin ladder to complete many of these projects. On January 15, 2025, my client was using the Franklin ladder to install a retractable air hose reel system to the rafters in his garage. He set the ladder up in the A form, as he had done countless times before. He heard the locks click [REDACTED], and he ensured the ladder was stable before stepping on to it. He climbed up and stood on the fourth or fifth rung to do his work (the legs were fully extended). A few minutes later, he was preparing to climb back down when the legs of the ladder spread apart suddenly without warning, throwing my client off the ladder. He was able to twist around mid-air and put his hand down in hopes of catching himself and softening his landing. He was unsuccessful. The bones in his left wrist shattered, and his head bounced violently off the concrete floor. He had to undergo surgical repair of the bones in his wrist, and he suffered a traumatic brain injury for which he is still under the care of a neurologist.
My client was able to recreate the ladder’s failure to lock correctly on video. My firm has also hired an ladder-failure engineering expert, who was also easily able to recreate the failure (also on video) with both my client’s ladder, as well as a brand new ladder of the same model. I can provide these videos upon request.

Model
17-foot Multi-Task Ladder
UPC
63418
Bought from
Harbor Freight
Bought
May 1, 2024, about then
Where
Scottsboro, Alabama: Home/Apartment/Condominium
Who was involved
Age 31, Male
The reporter’s relation to them
My Client, Patient, Student, Etc. (professional relationship)
As this report names them
Brand Franklin, made or sold by Harbor Freight Tools
How badly, in CPSC’s words
Injury, Hospital Admission

The company’s comments, in its own words

(1/16/2026) Harbor Freight Tools: Harbor Freight thanks the submitter for bringing this report to our attention. Harbor Freight takes all incident reports seriously and has investigated these concerns.
The Franklin-branded 17-foot Multi-Task Ladder is a multi-position ladder that can be used as an A-Frame ladder, an extension ladder, a 90-degree ladder, a staircase ladder, and scaffolding. To enable the various configurations, the ladder contains two hinge locks that lock the main side rails at 75 degrees (A-frame configuration, staircase configuration) and 180 degrees (extension configuration). Instructions on how to operate the hinge locks and ensure that they are fully engaged are included in both the packaging provided and on-product labels. Additionally, users are warned in both the packaging instructions and in the on-product labels to ensure all locks are engaged prior to use.
Based on Harbor Freight’s review of the photographs and video provided by the customer and his attorney, as well as the description of the incident provided by the customer, it appears that the hinge locks may not have been fully engaged prior to the customer stepping onto the ladder when it was in the stepladder configuration. The product instructions and warning labels clearly direct users to “verify all hinges…are in locked position” prior to use and include detailed pictures demonstrating a “locked” and “unlocked” hinge for review. The pictures of a “locked” and “unlocked” hinge are depicted on both the packaging and the on-product labels. The product instructions do not reference relying on audible “clicks” prior to usage.
Harbor Freight strongly cautions all users to review the safety warnings and instructions on both the product labels and packaging of the ladder prior to use. An audible click, as suggested by the customer, is not an indicator that the ladder is locked. Rather, users should visually verify all hinges and side locks are in locked positions.
Harbor Freight products, including the Franklin 17-foot Multi-Task Ladders, are tested to and comply with all mandatory and voluntary standards including ANSI / ASC A14.2.
HFT will continue to investigate this issue if the subject ladder is made available for its inspection.

CPSC report 20251215-34E4D-2147325536. Submitter: Consumer Search for it on SaferProducts.gov

CPSC’s disclaimer

Disclaimer: CPSC does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the contents of the Publicly Available Consumer Product Safety Information Database on SaferProducts.gov, particularly with respect to information submitted by people outside of CPSC.

Word for word, from the disclaimer in CPSC’s export.

Sources

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, SaferProducts.gov public database export.

Released Oct 25, 2026 and checked Oct 25, 2026. Updated daily. Public domain (U.S. Government work). CPSC asks to be credited, and that no endorsement be implied.

Reports of harm are from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), on SaferProducts.gov. CPSC does not endorse Hearth Record.

Franklin extension or straight ladders

At a glance

By month

How badly anyone was hurt

The reports, as CPSC published them

CPSC’s disclaimer

Sources

How to read a record

Every fact names its source.

A number never stands alone.

What needs attention is marked.

The public record comes first.