Video on how not to use a ladder safely – A fellow worker’s video of the man’s tumble has become the latest internet sensation with over 200,000 hits on YouTube.

Paul Cavanagh’s attempt to teach a group of employees how to use a ladder safely got off to bad start when he climbed up without his hard hat.

One of the workers corrected his oversight and threw him a hat as he showed off the new fall arrest system, taking his hands off the ladder several times before his demonstration took a turn for the worse.

The man’s safety instruction broke nearly every rule in the book. But crucially he forgot to tether the ladder, which proved his undoing and brought him down to earth with a bump.

His demonstration of the clip on fall arrest line, ended abruptly when the ladder slipped and crashed sideways over a fence and into a neighbouring garden – with Cavanagh still tied to it.

As he lay sprawled, one worker – who posted the footage on YouTube – said: “That proves the system doesn’t work.”

Cavanagh, who fortunately was not badly hurt by the experience, has been suspended from his job at Morrison Facilities Services, which works on behalf of the Gateshead Housing Co to manage properties for the local council.

Chris Morgan, the company’s overall safety boss, said: “We are dismayed by this isolated event.

“Please be sure that we have responded appropriately to this incident and endeavour to operate to the highest safety standards.”