I was once on top of a 40 ft. ladder doing some painting. A guy rom some other trade was removing scaffolding near me and tossed a 2X12 off the scaffold. It hit my ladder. I almost got bounced off the ladder. I’ve never been so scared in my life.
Hysterically, the moron with the scaffold denied he tossed the board to the ground.
On top of a 40’ ladder and having a plank hit the ladder, that is frightening. You are lucky and tough to have stayed on it.
Anything 32 feet and higher on a ladder is a bit freaky. As a painter myself, the worst thing we ever did to reach a spot was to set a 32’ up to the gutter/roof edge, then tied a 24’ ladder to the top so a guy could climb the metal 6/12 pitch roof to paint a dormer. A close second was tying two 8’ step ladders together at the top, then throwing them over the ridgeline so two painters could work dormers on either side. Labor and Industries would not have liked either trick, but when you are “point of the spear” in construction trades, you have to take a few chances.