Though
it's obvious that anyone who works high above the ground runs the risk of
falling, a surprising number of workers seem to think it can't happen to them.
This is a particular problem in construction, where several workers die each
day from falls and many more are injured.
Identifying Hazards
The
OSHA standard identifies situations with fall hazards as those where employees
work six feet or more above the ground or a lower level on:
·
Walking and working surfaces, including
ramps and runways
·
Unprotected leading edges of floors,
roofs, floor formworks, and other surfaces not actively and continuously under
construction
·
Faces of formwork or reinforcing
steel
·
Hoist areas
·
Areas above holes, including
skylights
·
Edges of excavations
·
Roofs of various pitches
·
Precast concrete structural members
that are being put up
·
Areas where overhand bricklaying and
related work are performed
·
Residential construction
·
Wall openings
·
Areas above equipment, such as
machinery, electrical equipment, degreasing units, or anything that could
create a hazard if you fall on or in it.
Protection against
Fall Hazards
To
be safe, you have to know more than which situations present fall hazards. You
also have to know what protection to use to prevent falls. In most cases, OSHA
standard expects employers to provide one or more of these basic protections:
guardrail, safety net, and/or personal fall arrest systems.
Let's
look at the three basic protections.
1. Guardrails
are a barrier between you and an open upper level edge. OSHA is very specific
about guardrails' design and construction. They're generally about 42 inches
high. If there's no wall 21 inches or higher, you have to have mid-rails,
screens, or something similar between the guardrails top and bottom to prevent
a fall. Guardrails must be made of materials strong enough to stand up against
a force of at least 200 pounds. They can't be made of materials that could
puncture the skin or snag your clothes.
2. Safety
net systems are designed to catch you if you do fall. They are made with strong
border ropes and mesh openings no more than 36 square inches or 6 inches on any
side, and placed 30 feet or less under the walking or working surface. Of
course, nets have to be strong enough to save a falling person. If they're not
certified, employers test them by dropping a 400-pound bag of sand about 30
inches in diameter from the highest walking/working surface. As added
protection, OSHA requires us to inspect the nets at least weekly for wear,
damage, and deterioration. Obviously, if they're no good, they're replaced. The
agency also says to remove any material or scrap that falls into a net as
quickly as possible.
3. Personal
fall arrest systems are a very valuable form of protection when you work
aboveground. You wear a body harness connected to a fixed anchor by a lanyard,
lifeline, or deceleration device that can hold your weight so you don't crash
to the ground.
4. Harness
straps attach in the center of your back near your shoulders or over your head;
they distribute the fall arrest forces around the mid-body. A body belt goes
around the waist, but is prohibited for use after January 1, 1998. If you start
to fall, a personal fall arrest system goes into action by the time you've
fallen six feet and before contact with any lower level. Once it comes into
play, it must bring the falling person to a complete stop after falling no more
than 3 1/2 feet.
The
only purpose of a personal fall arrest system is to keep you from falling.
Don't use one to hoist materials. You must also inspect the equipment before
each use to make sure there's no damage or deterioration. If you spot any
problems, you turn the system in and get a new one. Any equipment is only as
good as its parts. With personal fall arrest systems, the connectors that link
the parts together are especially vital. The regulation details what materials
meet its standards and how much they have to be able to hold without breaking.
People
who work on walls or other elevated vertical surfaces get special fall arrest
systems known as positioning devices. They allow you to lean and have both
hands free to perform your job. These devices must support at least twice the
potential load of an employee's fall and assure that you can't fall more than two
feet before they kick in. They need especially tough connectors.
Those
are the three fall protection systems OSHA prefers. But, as I mentioned
earlier, the agency permits other forms of protection in certain situations.
Warning
line systems are rope, wire, or chain barriers that alert employees to an
unprotected roof side or edge. Alone, they're not enough protection. We must
use them with guardrail, safety net, and/or personal fall arrest systems or
with a safety monitoring system.
Warning
lines are at least six feet from the roof edge and go around all sides of the
roof work area. Needless to say, no one can work between the roof edge and
warning line unless they're roofing in that area. Controlled access zones are
areas where certain work like overhand bricklaying can be performed without
guardrail, safety net, or personal fall arrest systems. As the name indicates,
these areas are off limits to all but specially authorized people. Lines of
rope, wire, tape, etc. set off these zones. The lines are at least six feet
from the unprotected edge—10 feet for overhand bricklaying. They run the full
length of that edge, and connect to a guardrail system or wall on each end.
Safety monitoring systems are another alternative form of fall protection OSHA
permits in certain situations. With safety monitoring, you place a trained
person with the workers on the elevated walking/working surface. This person's
job is to look for fall hazards and warn employees when they're approaching
danger. The monitor has to be in a spot where his or her spoken warning can be
heard. And when you hear that warning you'd better follow orders!
We
can use safety monitoring along with a warning line system on low-slope roofs
or alone on roofs less than 50 feet wide. Employers may also use it in
situations where they demonstrate that they can't use guardrails, safety nets,
and personal fall arrest systems or that those systems would create a greater
hazard than they prevent.
Covers
can keep people from falling through holes in floors, roofs, etc. The covers
are color-coded or marked HOLE or COVER so you know there's a hazard. They have
to be secured so they won't move accidentally and able to support at least
twice the weight of employees, equipment, and materials that could be on them
at once.
Safety Procedures
It's
not easy to remember all these fall hazards and protection systems.
Fortunately, you don't have to decide what to use and when. OSHA makes that an
employer responsibility. It's your responsibility to take these hazards seriously
and to use any protections provided properly. Otherwise, you put yourself or
others at risk.
One
important employee responsibility is to inspect the personal fall arrest system
before you use it. Turn in anything that has:
·
Cuts, tears, or abrasions
·
Undue stretching
·
Mold
·
Deterioration
·
Distorted hooks or faulty hook
springs
·
Nonfunctioning parts
·
Loose or damaged mountings
·
Tongues that don't fit the shoulder
of buckles
·
Contact with fire, acid, or other
corrosives
·
Alterations or additions that limit
its effectiveness.
For
a personal fall arrest system to protect you, you need a proper and secure
anchorage. Sometimes anchorages are designed into a structure. Then window
washers and others can use them later. Other options include a steel member or
I-beam; steel eye-bolts, guardrails or railings designed for anchor use; and
certain masonry or wood pieces. Someone with technical knowledge will determine
if possible anchors are strong and secure enough for the task.
You
want to be just as sure that the anchor connections are strong. If you use a
knot to tie-off, it can reduce the strength of the lifeline or lanyard by 50
percent or more - no matter how strong the anchor it's tied to. To offset that
loss, we use a stronger lanyard or lifeline to compensate.
Try
not to tie-off over a rough or sharp edge, which can also weaken the line. If
you tie off to an "H" or "I" beam, you have to use lanyards
made of webbing or lifelines with wire cores because they're stronger and less
likely to be damaged by the edge. Some types of knots also limit the system's
strength and fall protection ability. Never use a one-and-one sliding hitch
knot, and try to avoid using any hitch knot.
Other Fall
Prevention Techniques
We've
talked about how OSHA-required systems and equipment can prevent construction
falls—and deaths and injuries. But as you know, equipment and procedures are
never quite enough. You need a cautious, safety-oriented attitude and must take
precautions to reduce the chance that you'll fall.
Here
are some safety procedures that will help you prevent falls on any level—but
especially from heights:
·
Wear sturdy shoes with nonskid
soles. Be sure the shoes have either short laces or buckles or snaps.
·
Avoid wearing long, loose pants you
could trip over.
·
Walk slowly and watch where you're
going—don't run.
·
Clean up all spills promptly.
·
Take special care on wet or icy
surfaces.
·
Don't carry a stack of materials you
can't see over.
·
Carry only the tools and materials
you need to upper levels.
·
Keep all materials as far away from
the edge as possible.
·
Dispose of trash regularly and
properly.
·
Stay away from edges, even if
they're guarded, unless you're performing a specific task there.
·
Obey verbal warnings, signs, and
barriers. Don't enter a controlled access zone without authorization.
Wrap-Up
No
one wants to end up like Humpty Dumpty and take a big and fatal fall. OSHA's
construction fall protection standard was created to make that a lot less
likely. By requiring protection when you're at least six feet up, OSHA believes
it can really cut the number of falls and related deaths and injuries. The
systems, plus the required training programs, are an effort to get all involved
parties on the same safety wavelength. The OSHA standard we've been discussing
today has a lot of details. It is very specific about when fall protection is
required and what equipment is tough enough to do the job.
The
standard's careful efforts to prevent falls emphasizes how serious these
accidents are. It demonstrates that we can and should prevent falls whenever
any job—not just construction—involves work aboveground.