Imagine that on the first day at your new job, the foreman tosses you a harness and a 6-foot lanyard and says, “Be careful out there!” That may seem like an extreme example of a woefully inadequate fall protection training program, but I will bet dollars to donuts it happens more often than we think.

When employees are performing construction work six feet or more above a lower level, you need to provide them with some type of fall protection. There is an exception for working on scaffolding — the threshold height for fall protection is ten feet. OSHA regulates falls at 1926 Subpart M.

Nearly eight years ago, in its Z359.14 Safety Requirements for Self-Retracting Devices standard, ANSI divided self-retracting lifelines (SRLs) into two classes, Class A and Class B. Although it’s been close to a decade, there is still some misunderstanding as to what these classes mean.

Trucking can be a hazardous profession for drivers – and that’s before the driver has even set foot in the cab or put the vehicle in gear. For good reason -- fleets focus much of their attention on minimizing risks on the road, but there are also risks when a driver is on his or her feet as well, due to the risk of a fall.

The V-FLEX™ full body harness is the first in a new series of harnesses by MSA, designed for superior comfort and mobility. The V-FLEX uses MSA's new, exclusive racing style design. The design routes webbing across the chest for a secure, more comfortable fit and reduces the need for adjustments throughout the day so workers can the focus on the task at hand.

Honeywell’s Miller Aircore™ Patriotic Steel Harness is for construction workers who prefer to wear their patriotism on their sleeves while gaining optimal safety and comfort for at-height applications. The unique stars and stripes look also has the advantage of high visibility and easy identification on a jobsite.

Guardian Fall Protection announced the 8’ Diablo Cable SRL-LE, a wearable self-retracting lifeline designed for use in leading edge construction applications. The lightweight Diablo Cable SRL-LE features a direct-to-harness mounting system and unique integrated shock absorber system for a low-profile, comfortable fit.

Employers faced with these fall hazards tend to ignore the three lines of defense and go straight to personal protective equipment to solve their fall issues. What is needed is an understanding of the revised OSHA rule on walking and working surfaces and related fall protection consensus standards.

It's easy to think that a slip or fall won't happen to you, your employees or your loved ones. But the statistics aren't favorable to anyone. That's why we echo OSHA's recent improvements to the "Walking and Working Surface Rule" and call for increased prevention of slip, trip, and fall injuries.

FallTech® has re-engineered and is launching an update to their work-duty harness, the Journeyman FLEX. The Journeyman FLEX harness upgrades deliver comfort, durability and value to workers in both the Aluminum and Steel models.