David, The rule of thumb for ladder positioning is that the bottom of the ladder should be placed a distance away from the vertical wall about 1/4 the length of the ladder.
So, in this case, for a 15 foot ladder, the bottom should be about 4 feet from the wall. Doing a little trig tells me that means the top of the ladder would be about 14.5 feet up the wall. So I think you would be fine. According to OSHA the angle between the ladder and the ground should be about 75 degrees. It should never be more than that unless the top is tied. If the angle is less than that, IE, the bottom is farther away from the wall, the bottom should be tied. And lastly, the distance from the foot of the ladder to the wall should never be more than half the height above the ground of the top of the ladder. IE, the angle between the ground and the ladder should never be less than 63 degrees. -- Blue skies. Dan Rossi Carnegie Mellon University. E-Mail: [email protected] Tel: (412) 268-9081
