Study: Fall prevention works, even anchored to wood frame
Fall protection on residential construction sites has long been the subject of controversy, according to Pete Stafford, Executive Director of the Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR). “Some residential construction firms have argued that that the wood frames and trusses common in homebuilding aren't suitable to safely anchor personal fall arrest systems (PFAS),” says Stafford. An additional objection: adapting the structures to make them suitable would be prohibitively expensive, requiring special engineering services.
“Jeremy Bethancourt and Mark Cannon, supported by CPWR, have completed a study that should help workers and contractors breathe easier,” said Stafford. “Examining more than a dozen case files covering falls and near misses at a Southwestern U.S. frame carpentry firm - one that has been employing fall protection for years - they documented how in each case the PFAS had worked as intended and either averted a fall in the first place or arrested the fall, preventing a serious injury.”