Fall Safety Protection Hierarchy:

1. Eliminate the hazard, If you can't then go to #2

2. Prevent the hazard, If you can't then go to #3

3. Utilize Fall Protection BUT only after you have been properly trained to use fall protection equipment!

Proper Training for Fall Protection Safety

All though companies are getting with the program by providing their people with fall arrest equipment injuries and fatalities continue to occur. Fall related injuries and fatalities are less these days as som,e employers train their people to utilize their Fall Safety Protection gear properly. Those employers who train benefit from it as do their employees however others who fail to train sometimes have a different outcome. The problem is that people look at fall protection equipment as the sole solution to fall protection safety, this is nothing more than a false sense of security on the part of the employer. This is a common mistake among employers, just because you buy safety equipment for your people doesn't mean that you have totally addressed safety. Some companies consider training as watching another worker put a harness on or reading the instruction manual that comes with fall protection equipment to be enough training, this is a major misconception. Every peice of safety equipment comes with a set of instructions, read them to your people but along with this information there must be a Fall Protection Safety program that is in place at your facility or construction site that is protocol. 

Fatalies: Statistics of Work Related Falls 

Falls are the number one cause of death to construction employees and the second for occupational death for general-industry workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2004 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. Because workers have a lack of training, the fall arrest products intended to protect them are being misused and have in several cases worked against them. In Australia, a worker who was toiling on a communications tower fell down nearly 1,000 feet to the ground even though he was wearing a double-leg lanyard. The man died after the incident. Bulletins stated that the lanyard’s design was not effective. After an investigation was conducted, it was determined that the worker had worn the fall protection lanyard incorrectly. If he had been wearing it correctly, he only would have dropped 5 or 6 feet as opposed to 1,000 feet to his horrible death. The root cause of this issue was clearly of training and not a product issue. Proper training,  attaching to acceptable anchorage points and wearing fall protection equipment properly are essential in making fall arrest systems work properly.

A Comfortable Fitting Harness Is A Key Factor In Fall Protection Safety

Whether you are talking about hard hats, work boots, gloves or underwear for that fact you just work more effectively with good fitting and comfortable gear. One noticeable piece of information in fall related issues is that out of 1,000 people who die from falls, a substantial portion of them were wearing the so-called comfort fall protection equipment. According to Dr. J. Nigel Ellis, who is the president of Ellisl Safety Solutions, "Comfort has become an important selling point but it does not always prompt an employee to use it any more than usual."  "The evidence lies in the statistics," Ellis says.

• Identify all potential tripping and fall hazards before work starts.

• Look for fall hazards such as unprotected floor openings/edges, shafts, skylights, stairwells, and roof openings/edges.

• Inspect fall protection equipment for defects before use.

• Select, wear, and use fall protection equipment appropriate for the task.

• Secure and stabilize all ladders before climbing them.

• Never stand on the top rung/step of a ladder.

• Use handrails when you go up or down stairs.

• Practice good housekeeping. Keep cords, welding leads and air hoses out of walkways or adjacent work areas.

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