Articles Tagged with ''Fall Protection''

The risks of working at heights can be deceiving. In workplaces, no matter the height, the risks are too often discounted – until someone falls.

The National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) and the United Union of Roofers (UUR) are among those supporting OSHA’s National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction this week.

GET REAL. Start with research. If you’re not comfortable with the statistics, facts, and requirements regard falls, you’re not going to be able to deliver them in a convincing manner. If you’re not comfortable delivering the information, find somebody who is. This doesn’t have to be a one-man show.

The Latchways Mini Personal Fall Limiter is the most compact, lightweight self-retracting lanyard ever developed. This PFL uses multiple spring radial energy-absorbing technology to eliminate the need for an external energy-absorber outside of the housing, making it the smallest SRL available.

Safety at Heights Tower, MSA's new Competent Tower Climber course, is the latest addition to MSA’s Safety at Heights Fall Protection Training Program.

Every day on the job a construction worker is killed by a fall and about 40 are seriously injured. You could easily be one of them. All it takes is a slip or trip and down you go.

Inspect your equipment before each use. Replace defective equipment. If there is any doubt about the safety of the equipment, do not use it and refer questionable defects to your supervisor. Replace any equipment, including ropes, involved in a fall. Refer any questionable defects to your supervisor or check with the manufacturer.

Employers must set up the work place to prevent employees from falling off of overhead platforms, elevated work stations or into holes in the floor and walls. OSHA requires that fall protection be provided at elevations of four feet in general industry workplaces, five feet in shipyards, six feet in the construction industry and eight feet in longshoring operations.

Try to start early. Designate a coordinator to organize the stand-down. If you have multiple work sites, identify the team that will lead the stand-down at each site. Think about asking your subcontractors, owner, architects, engineers, or others associated with your project to participate in the stand-down.

Fatalities caused by falls from elevation continue to be a leading cause of death for construction workers, accounting for 337 of the 874 construction fatalities recorded in 2014 (BLS preliminary data). Those deaths were preventable. Fall prevention safety standards were among the top 10 most frequently cited OSHA standards, during fiscal year 2014.