The 5 Most Overlooked Fall Hazards in the Workplace

Over the past several years our company has had the privilege to assist numerous employers in various industries to mitigate their workplace fall hazards. The types of hazards range from twenty-story high rooftop work to working on the edge of 200’ deep pits. In many of these businesses we are seeing the same types of trends in regards to hazards that are totally being overlooked by the employers. We have made a list below of what we consider to be the top 5 most dangerous. Take a quick minute to see if you are overlooking any of the 5 right now.

1. Untrained Staff

This above all-else is what we believe to be the leading cause of workplace injuries and deaths, and not just in regards to falls. It is against the law to have employees performing dangerous tasks without proper training. Your Injury Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) should include a “Code of Safe Practices”. It should be spelled out in this document that under no circumstance would an employee perform a hazardous task until he/she has received instruction on how to do it properly, safely and is authorized to perform that task.

Purchasing fall protection equipment such as harnesses, lanyards, self-retracting lifelines, etc. is only the first step. You must provide these employees with the correct training in order to use this equipment properly. Fall arrest equipment can give a worker a false sense of safety and put them at a greater risk of injury or even death because of improper use. At minimum each employee should have “Authorized User” training that covers the specific area of danger where that employee is working. We suggest that each employee that is exposed to fall hazards be trained as a “Competent Person” in fall protection standards. This will give your employee the ability to utilize multiple types of fall protection equipment and practices.  

Do you have a site-specific fall protection plan for each fall hazard in your work place? This plan covers the specific hazard that an employee will be exposed to in your workplace. Each new employee should be trained to comply with this plan by a competent person in fall protection standards, equipment being used for mitigation of this hazard, correct procedures to perform during the hazardous task, and proper rescue techniques in the case of a fall. To avoid very costly citations have all training documented and on-site for OSHA inspectors if they are to arrive at your place of business. To learn more about fall protection training visit http://www.versatilefallprotection.com/training

2. We’ve Been Doing It This Way For Years (and nothing has happened) YET

On many job walks we will be shocked at the fact that an employer will tell us that their staff has been performing the hazardous task for 40 plus years without ever having an incident. Workplace injuries and deaths are not on a schedule. No one ever knows when an accident is going to occur. Just because you’ve had an employee working dangerously without an incident for the past 30-40 years does not make it safe. A 30-40 year old company that willingly puts an employee at risk of injury will probably not survive the OSHA citations, lawsuits and insurance premium increases, not to mention the loss of a valuable employee.

We recently visited a business that had workers walking along 2x12 planks above an acoustical ceiling to change light bulbs and perform other maintenance. The acoustical ceiling was only about 2 feet below the planks, which gave the worker the false cense of security that they were safe. The truth was that below the acoustical tiles was an 80’ death fall. If a worker accidently stepped off the planks onto the drop ceiling he/she would crash down to the auditorium eighty feet below.  The facilities management told us that it’s been done that way for years and they did not see the urgency to get a solution in place at this time. If a death ever occurs at this place of business it will be devastating to the workers family, friends, the company he/she works for and also for us as advocates for a safe workplace.

3. Rescue

Back to number 1. Training. Your site-specific fall protection plan should always include a method of rescue that goes beyond calling 911. Amazingly many employers will install horizontal lifelines, anchor points and many other types of “Fall Arrest” equipment without a rescue plan. When a fall occurs the fallen workers is at a great risk of further bodily damage from suspension trauma if they are not rescued immediately.

Orthostatic intolerance aka “Venous Pooling” occurs when the body has been suspended for a period of time cutting circulation to the lower extremities. An accumulation of blood in the legs reduces the amount of blood in circulation. The body reacts to this by speeding up the heart rate in an attempt to maintain sufficient blood flow to the brain. If the blood supply is significantly reduced, this reaction will not be effective. The body will abruptly slow the heart rate and blood pressure will diminish in the arteries. During severe venous pooling, the reduction in quantity and/or quality (oxygen content) of blood flowing to the brain causes fainting. This reduction also can have an effect on other vital organs, such as the kidneys. The kidneys are very sensitive to blood oxygen and renal failure can occur with excessive venous pooling. If these conditions continue, they potentially may be fatal.

A method of assisted recue should take place within 4 minutes of a fall. The fallen worker should perform self-rescue procedures immediately. There are multiple forms of rescue equipment that cover just about any type of fall hazard. This equipment and rescue procedures should be included in your site-specific fall protection plan. If you can’t find a rescue solution seek the help of a professional fall protection company. Never send your workers into an unsafe work environment without a rescue procedure. There are multiple stories of fallen workers that had not been rescued in time and died, this was not from impacting the surface below but by being hung in the very equipment that was meant to save their lives.

4. Passive Solutions

Many companies automatically want to put their workers in fall arrest because it’s the easiest way for them to get rid of the fall hazard in OSHA’s eyes. What these employers are not taking into consideration is that there is still a very large risk of injury or death when using fall arrest equipment. This risk increases if the worker has not been trained correctly and you don’t have the most effective fall arrest plan in place. There are three basic types of fall protection. The first and most popular would be “Fall Arrest”. In a fall arrest situation a worker is still exposed to a fall but he/she utilizes approved equipment that will arrest the fall within 6 feet and before the worker was to strike the surface below. The second is “Fall Restraint”. In a fall restraint situation the worker will be restrained from falling over an edge or into an open hole by a lanyard or other type of restraint equipment. This equipment can be limiting to the worker in regards to mobility and is often used wrong putting that person in a very hazardous situation because they have the false feeling of safety. The third type and most effective form of fall protection is “Passive Fall Protection”. With passive fall protection the fall hazard is completely eliminated by railings, portable guardrails and other barriers that will not allow the worker to fall. Passive fall protection solutions are available for most fall hazard situations. Unfortunately this seems to be the least utilized form of fall protection. Guardrails can be more time consuming and not as cost effective causing many employers to take the easy way out.

We have been renting and installing portable guardrails for the past few years and find it to be the best long-term solution. This type of protection reduces the costs of training, fall protection plans and overall vulnerability to the employer. It’s a great piece of mind for an employer to know that his people are safe and he has taken care of his obligation to provide a safe work environment for his people. See some great examples of portable guardrails at http://www.versatilefallprotection.com/projects

5. Skylight Screens

If your facility has skylights on its roof our suggestion is to immediately find out if they are rated for fall protection. There is typically a stamp on the side of the skylight that will state whether it’s OSHA rated or not.

Federal OSHA states in CFR 1910.23 Every skylight floor opening and hole shall be guarded by a standard skylight screen or a fixed standard railing on all exposed sides and Cal/OSHA Title 8, Section 3212 (1) Skylight Screens. The design, construction, and installation of skylight screens shall meet the strength requirements equivalent to that of covers specified in subsection (b) (400lbs.). They shall also be of such design, construction and mounting that under design loads or impacts, they will not deflect downward sufficiently to break the glass below them.

Basically what this means for an employer or building owner is that your skylights must be able to withstand a load of 400lbs without breaking. We have found that even on brand new buildings owners are taking the cheap alternative and installing non-compliant skylight covers. It is a fact that most employers never know when their staff is going to be on their roof and don’t take this very dangerous fall hazard into consideration. Most deaths occur when an unknowing employee sits on top of a brittle skylight and falls to his death into the warehouse below. Our suggestion is to not to guess who and when people will be on your roof. Take the necessary precautions and get these skylights covered by a professional installation company. Our company installs skylight screens for many different companies and other’s do as well. Visit http://www.versatilefallprotection.com/projects?cid=17 for a typical installation.