Should be off, and staying off. Back in the days it never or HARDLY ever got turned on, and we managed fine.
As for the ladders, its not always the top one. If you get your head up someone's ass, the guy above you CAN'T move. not that he/she doesn't want to. It sucks, ofcourse. If you get blocked by some lartass on the ladder. but its not any more fair to the person who gets a head up his ass, making him unable to move.