Safety Tidbit 8.05 – Fall Protection

Safety Tidbit 8.05 – Fall Protection

 

Reference:       Diversified Fall Protection – Fall Protection PPE: When do you need to replace a safety harness?

                        OSHA – Fall Protection Safety and Health Topics Page

 

This Safety Tidbit is brought to you by my student, Mr. Tanner Melnyk– a Senior in the Safety, Health, and Environmental Applied Sciences Program at the Indiana University of PA, graduating in the Spring of 2023.

 

Fall Protection is a crucial part of ensuring the safety and health of workers. Fall protection is required when the employee is exposed to four feet or higher unprotected sides. By far, the most prominent component of the Fatal Four is falling-related deaths, as 38.8% of workplace fatalities alone result from falls. Fall protection equipment is often inadequate or misused, receiving the most OSHA regulation violations out of any category in the construction industry. Last year alone, roughly 717 workers died of injuries caused by falls from ladders, scaffolds, buildings, or other elevations. In the construction industry, falls lead to all other causes of occupational death, and the risk is present in virtually every workplace. Personal Protective Equipment for fall protection is the last line of protection for the worker not experiencing a life-threatening injury or time off work. 

 

Fall protection PPE selection:

●      Nets

●      Guardrails

●      Fall arrest systems 

●      Safety monitors 

 

Implementing the following safety protective equipment will constantly outweigh the cost of a workplace accident or fatality. Nets will allow workers to fall off the platform and be caught before hitting the ground instead of hitting the ground. Guardrails will allow the workers to have an object in between the edge of the platform and the working area; this PPE will allow workers to know when they are close to the edge. Fall arrest systems have a lanyard and a hardness that connects to the worker to allow the worker to not fall off the ledge and result in a fall. The fall arrest system must fit the employee correctly and be inspected before every use for frays or defects. Safety monitors can make a sound or vibration if a worker is getting too close to the edge of the working platform. Personal Protective equipment for fall protection must be maintained to operate as it should. Workers must report any equipment faults to management to get it fixed and make the equipment out of service, so there is no potential for any other worker to use it. 

 

I hope this was helpful, and thank you for reading my Safety Tidbits! Comments and questions are always welcome. ~ Bryan