Safety Tidbit 2.39 - Safety Stand-Down 2017 - Falls

Safety Tidbit 2.39 – Safety Stand-Down 2017 - Falls

Reference:       OSHA National Safety Stand-Down Website

                        CPWR Campaign Website

Well, it’s that time of year again. Workers' Memorial Day is observed every year on April 28. It is a day to honor those workers who have died on the job, to acknowledge the grievous suffering experienced by families and communities, and to recommit ourselves to the fight for safe and healthful workplaces for all workers. And, since 2012 they have followed Workers’ Memorial Day with a national safety stand-down to raise awareness about fall hazards on job sites. OSHA has had a Fall standard basically forever. However, most of the top 10 citations given by OSHA for many many years involve fall hazards.  Furthermore, fatalities caused by falls from elevation continue to be a leading cause of death for construction employees, accounting for 350 of the 937 construction fatalities recorded in 2015 (BLS data). Folks, those deaths were preventable. The National Fall Prevention Stand-Down raises fall hazard awareness across the country to stop fall fatalities and injuries.

So, what is a Safety Stand-Down? A Safety Stand-Down is a voluntary event for employers to talk directly to employees about safety. Any workplace can hold a stand-down by taking a break to focus on "Fall Hazards" and reinforcing the importance of "Fall Prevention". It's an opportunity for employers to have a conversation with employees about hazards, protective methods, and the company's safety policies and goals. It can also be an opportunity for employees to talk to management about fall hazards they see. The goal of this national campaign is simple really, it is to prevent fatal falls from roofs, ladders, and scaffolds by encouraging residential construction contractors to:

PLAN ahead to get the job done safely
PROVIDE the right equipment
TRAIN everyone to use the equipment safely

Really is it too much to ask that when you bid out a job that you think about all aspects of getting the job done (and actually put safety as a box on the checklist). At a minimum, take the time to think about how your folks are gaining access to the elevated work areas (use of ladders, scaffolds, lifts). Second, how are the materials getting up there (ladders, scaffolds, lifts) and, lastly how do we keep both (workers and materials) up there while work is being done?

Sorry to be on a soapbox, but this does seem to be very difficult. Unfortunately, we keep killing workers every year.

Hope this was helpful and thanks for reading my Safety Tidbits! Comments and questions are always welcome. ~ Bryan

P.S. If you have a burning safety or health question, please, let me know.