Fall Protection and Prevention

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. 

Excavator use & Safety Precaution.

Excavators are used:-

· Digging of trenches, holes, foundations

· Material handling

· Brush cutting with hydraulic attachments

· Forestry work

· Forestry mulching

· Demolition

· General grading/landscaping

· Heavy lift, e.g. lifting and placing of pipes

· Mining, especially, but not only open-pit mining

· River dredging

· Driving piles, in conjunction with a pile driver

Excavator hazards

Most fatal and serious injuries involving excavators occur when the excavator is:
Moving – and strikes a pedestrian, particularly while reversing;
Slewing – trapping a person between the excavator and a fixed structure or vehicle; or
Working – when the moving bucket or other attachment strikes a pedestrian or when the bucket inadvertently falls from the excavator.

Controlling the risk

It is important to select the right excavator for the job. There are five main precautions needed to control excavator hazards. These are:
Exclusion: People should be kept away from areas of excavator operation by the provision of suitable barriers. Most excavator related deaths involve a person working in the vicinity of the excavator rather than the driver. Bunting or fencing can be used to create and maintain a pedestrian exclusion area.

Clearance: When slewing in a confined area the selection of plant with minimal tail swing is preferred. Clearance of over 0.5m needs to be maintained between any part of the machine, particularly the ballast weight, and the nearest obstruction.

Visibility: Excavators with the best view around them directly from the driver position should be selected. Excavators should be equipped with adequate visibility aids to ensure drivers can see areas where people may be at risk from the operation of the machine.

Signaler (flagman): A signaler should be provided in a safe position to direct excavator operation and any pedestrian movements.

Bucket attachment: Quick hitches can be used to secure buckets to the excavator arm. Check that you are able to implement and manage any quick hitch used. A number of deaths have occurred in recent years when the bucket has fallen from the machine.

Training and competence

Inspection and maintenance

Wire Ropes and Webbing Slings

Wire Rope Slings

·        Wear leather gloves at all times when handling wire rope

·        Check the SWL, it should be clearly marked on the ferrule.

·        Make sure the sling is color-coded.

·        Always examine the sling before using it.  Damaged slings should not be used if:

1.  There are broken wires               

2.  Severe localized abrasion or scraping.

3.  Kinking, crushing, bird-caging, or any other damage causing distortion.

4.  Evidence of heat damage.

5.  End attachments are cracked, deformed, or excessively worn.

6.  Bent or opened hooks.

7.  Severe corrosion.

·        Avoid crushing forces on wire rope at all times to minimize damage to cores and hidden wires.

·        Care should be taken, when using basket hitches, that slings do not slip on the object being lifted.

·        Exposure of wire rope to dirt, grit, water or corrosive material should be avoided.

·        Each sling shall bear a permanent manufacturer's identification stating the safe working load (SWL) in tons and serial number.

Synthetic Webbing Slings

These are manufactured from woven man-made fiber. They offer numerous advantages such as: will conform to regular shapes, won’t rust, non-sparking, lightweight, preclude hand cuts, resist crushing and will not harm the surface being lifted. 

·        Synthetic web slings shall be marked with a stitched in label to show:

(a) Name or trademark of manufacturer

(b) Rated capacity for each type of hitch

(c) Type of material

·        These slings must not be subjected to point loading, and sharp edged objects.

·        Nylon web slings should not be used where fumes, sprays, vapors, mists, or liquid of acids are present.

·        Polyester web slings should not be used where fumes, sprays, vapors, mists, or liquid of caustics are present.

·        Synthetic web slings shall be immediately removed from service if any of the following conditions are present:

1.     Acid or caustic burns

2.     Melting or charring of any part of the sling surface

3.     Punctures, tear, or cuts

4.     Broken or worn stitches

·        The use of repaired slings is prohibited.

Safe Work Habits

"Habit is the deepest law of human nature" Most of us would probably agree with that. People are quite often influenced by habit. Habit and job safety is also closely related. If you form safe work habits, it's going to reflect positively in everyone’s job safety. There are seven (7) common "human factors" related to developing safe work habits. Let's review them.

Hazard Recognition --- Recognition of hazards is an important factor. By constantly being on the lookout for hazards you enhance your own safety. In watching for hazards you must consider not just the obvious ones, but also hazards which might suddenly appear through some action of another person or a chain of unusual circumstances. Whenever a hazard is detected, report it to someone who can make the change.

Avoiding Indifference --- Avoiding indifference on the job is important to safety. An individual might know the right way to do his or her particular job, and just ignore it. Sometimes the most experienced person who has had the safety related training might tend to avoid doing the job the right way. Or there may be the employee who does not know the safety procedures and instead of finding them out chooses to also ignore them. These kind of indifferences on the job can and do lead to trouble and accidents.

Eliminating "Daredevil" Behavior --- Have you ever done or known anyone who has done a daredevil stunt or taken a quick chance? How about standing on the top rung of a ladder? Everyone knows you should not do that, sometimes the ladder is even posted "do not stand above a certain level" but we do it anyway. Eliminating "daredevil" behavior is another human factor that can prevent injury on the job and at home.

Setting a Good Example --- Setting a good example is another factor to consider. We have all heard this statement before. "If you set a good example then others will follow". Think about how your actions at work and at home may affect the attitudes of others. The actions of all of us have an influence on the safety-mindedness of others.  I bet. If a veteran employee follows the safety rules then the newer employee may follow their lead but on the other hand if we condone the unsafe acts of others then that behavior may be what we now call the culture of the company.

Avoiding Impulsiveness --- Another link in the chain of job safety is avoiding impulsiveness or being in a hurry. Haste is a trait that often leads to accidents. We are using our time foolishly if we don't take the time to be safe. Employees contribute many valuable time saving suggestions each year, but these time saving suggestions should be reviewed and approved before they are used. Haste can result in injury!

Controlling Impatience --- Controlling impatience and temper is equally important to job safety. If we let emotions get out of control, an accident can easily occur. Statistics prove that on the job violence is on the increase in our country. Do you have programs in place that identifies potential problems before tempers get out of control? And, what kind of programs do you have established to get help for your employees.

Proper Training and Instruction --- Finally, one of the most important human factors related to safe work habits is training. From the day we are born we are being trained. Some of this training or learning may have been good, and we probably picked up some bad habits along the way. Job training and safety go hand in hand. While the supervisor is responsible for training, each employee must be responsible to ask questions if instructions are not clear or if there are any doubts about procedures. Unfortunately, some experienced employees may be so familiar with their jobs that they become inattentive, and this too is hazardous.

Proper work habits can assure job safety. Overall, the responsibilities for developing safe work habits really belong to each of us. By being aware of the "human factors" we've just reviewed, safe work habits can be formed and job safety assured. This can and does affect your bottom line. 

Scaffolding Safety Toolbox Talk

Scaffolds are intended to provide safe working positions at elevations.  But if we will not observe the basic safety guidelines in the use of scaffolding its use may lead to injuries or even death.

·       Scaffolds shall only be built by persons knowledgeable with the requirements of safe scaffolding and should have the proper training and certification. 

·       Do not use a make shift scaffold.

·       Before starting work on a scaffold, visually inspect to ensure that the scaffold is tagged and approved for use, all locking pins, decking, handrail, midrails and toeboards are in place and secured.  If a movable scaffold is used, inspect to ensure that the wheels are locked.

·       Wear safety harnesses and be properly tied-off on all incomplete scaffolds (erected without complete railings, decking or toeboards) or outside of the handrails.

·       Do not climb on any scaffold handrail, midrail, or brace member.  Use the access ladder to get on and off the scaffold.

·       All scaffold must be level and plumb, and on a firm base.

·       Do not rig from scaffold handrails, midrails and braces.

·       Never alter scaffold members by welding or burning.

·       No scaffolding can be dismantled, alter, or modified by any person unless they are trained and certified scaffolders.

·       All scaffolding materials should not be used for any other purpose other than for scaffolding.

·       Ensure that materials and tools in the scaffold are secured from falling.  If this cannot be ensured, the area underneath the scaffold should be barricaded and appropriate warning signs installed.

BACK INJURIES IN CONSTRUCTION

Twenty five percent of injuries in construction are back injuries.  Construction has the highest rate of back injuries of any industry, except transportation.  Most of the back problems are low-back injuries.  Repeated injury to your back can cause permanent damage and end your career. 

THE HAZARDS

Most back injuries are sprains and strains from lifting, lowering, carrying, pushing, and pulling materials.  You are at risk of low-back injury if you must twist while carrying heavy loads; work bent over continuously, or stays in other awkward postures.

PROTECT YOURSELF

Planning, changing how work is done, and training workers and supervisors can reduce injuries. 

PLAN

·        Warm-up exercises before work can help reduce muscle injuries.

·        Cut down on carrying. Have materials delivered close to where they will be used.

·        Try to store materials at waist height.

·        Raise your work to waist level, if you can.  Pipe fitters use pipe stands. Masons have adjustable scaffolds to keep the work at waist height.

·        Make sure floors and walkways are clear and dry.  Slips and trips are a big cause of back injuries.

·        Take rest breaks. When you are tired, you are more prone to injury.

GET HELP

·        Use carts, dollies, forklifts, and hoists to move materials — not your back.

·        Use carrying tools with handles to get a good grip on wallboard or other odd-shaped loads.  If materials weigh more than about 50 pounds, do not lift them by yourself.  Get help from another worker or use a cart. 

MOVE CAREFULLY

·        When lifting or carrying materials, keep the load as close to your body as you can.  Try not to twist, when lifting and lowering materials.  Turn your whole body instead.

·        Lift and lower materials in a smooth steady way.  Try not to jerk the lift.

·        When you pick up materials off the ground:—Try supporting yourself by leaning on something while lifting. —Don't bend over; instead, kneel on one knee and pull the load upon to your knee before standing. (Wear kneepads when you kneel.)