OSHA’s Protection Violations - Falls

 

Each year, falls account for the greatest number of fatalities in the construction industry, and are always a major concern in other industries. This Toolbox Talk discusses the top five fall protection violations that OSHA inspectors constantly find not being followed—or followed incorrectly—at construction jobsites.

These OSHA citations cover general fall protection. They do not cover falls from scaffolds, aerial lifts, steel erection, etc. Those subjects have their own fall protection rules.

#1 Unprotected sides and edges—Each employee on a walking/working surface with an unprotected side or edge 6 feet or more above a lower level must be protected from falling by the use of guardrail, safety net, or personal fall arrest systems.

#2 Training requirements—Your employer must provide a training program if you might be exposed to fall hazards. The program must: (1) enable you to recognize the fall hazards specific to your jobsite, and (2) train you in the procedures to follow to minimize those hazards.

#3 Residential construction—Except as otherwise provided in the OSHA rules, when you are engaged in residential construction activities 6 feet or more above lower levels, you must be protected by a guardrail, safety net, or personal fall arrest system.

If your employer can demonstrate that it is infeasible or creates a greater hazard to use one of the above systems, they can develop and implement a fall protection plan meeting the requirements of paragraph .502(k) of the fall protection regulations.

You can also use a combination of a warning line and: (1) guardrail, (2) safety net, (3) personal fall arrest, or (4) safety monitoring system. Or, on roofs 50-feet wide or less, you can use a safety monitoring system alone.

#4 Holes—If you are on a walking/working surface more than 6 feet above a lower level with holes (including skylights), you must be protected from falling through those holes by personal fall arrest equipment, a covers, or a guardrail erected around the hole.
If you are below a hole, you must be protected from objects falling through the hole (including skylights) by a cover.

#5 Roofing work on low-slope roofs—Except as otherwise provided in the OSHA regulations, if you are working on a low-slope roof, with unprotected sides and edges 6 feet or more above a lower level, you must be protected from falling by a guardrail, safety net, or personal fall arrest system.
Events surrounding falls often involve a number of factors, including unstable working surfaces, misuse of fall protection equipment, and human error. Studies have shown that the use of guardrails, fall arrest systems, safety nets, covers, and travel restriction systems can prevent many deaths and injuries from falls.

This information is provided by Assurance Agency https:www.assuranceagency.com

Personal Fall Arrest Systems

 

 

A Personal fall arrest system is required when working at height levels with an unprotected side or edge. When it is not possible to provide a safe working platform, i.e. secured full deck board with guardrails including toe guards and means of safe access and there is risk of fall from height, then use of personal fall arrest or personal fall protection equipment is mandatory.

Appropriate connectors assembly along with full body harness required for each work shall be determined based on the level of exposure, nature of work, type of roof/surface/platform, etc. and shall be listed in the permit to work.
Generally, a personal fall arrest systems consist of anchors (connector), full body harness and lanyard with shock absorber.

Regulations – Personal fall arrest system
OSHA 29 CFR 1926.502 gives guidelines on Fall protection systems criteria and practices.
Body belts are not acceptable as part of personal fall arrest system according to OSHA 29 CFR 1926.502(b) because they can cause serious injury during fall.
When workers are exposed to fall of 6 feet or more to a lower level, they must wear personal fall arrest. Personal fall arrest system must be designed and setup according to OSHA 29 CFR 1926.502 (d)(16)(iii

Safe work practices and controls
1. Plan and organize the work in advance through the work permit system and the Job Safety Analysis to assess the requirement of personal fall protection system.
2. Make sure, all personal protective equipment used for working is inspected before use.
3. Workers must be trained in the use of personal fall arrest equipment and must work under the constant supervision of a competent person.
4. Workers with health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, psychosis, epilepsy, or one of these diseases should be considered unfit.
5. It is very important to calculate the proper length of lanyard, anchorage position and the distance to the lower level i.e. fall clearance distance to prevent contact with lower surface in the event of fall.
6. The pendulum effect must be predicted for the fallen worker so that it cannot be hit on the nearby structure. There anchor point must be above the work area.
8. A personal fall arrest system includes an anchorage (where the lanyard’s snap hook is attached), Full body harness and connector i.e. lanyard with shock absorber or lifeline. Connector couples the body harness to the anchorage. Lifeline may be self-retractive type or with deceleration device.
9. How to wear full body safety harness properly:
- Before use, inspect your harness for any damaged straps, buckles, D-ring and lines. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions and keep in mind that most of the harness are withstanding 140 kg load.
- Hold the harness by D-ring in your right hand and shake it to allow all straps to hang down. If any strap i.e. chest, thighs or waist are already buckled then unbuckle them before wearing.
- Slip straps over shoulders and ensure the D-ring of harness at center i.e. between the worker’s shoulder blades. Lanyard should be attached to the D-ring.
- Adjust the harness to fit comfortably. Make sure all straps are fastened and adjusted correctly.
- The leg straps should be adjusted until they are comfortable, its should not be so tight, to check it put the palm of hand into the straps across the thighs so that it should be comfortably fitted. There should be a gap of about one inch between your thighs and straps. Connect waist strap after leg straps.
- Ensure shock absorber fitted with lanyard
10. Lanyard anchor must be secured with anchorage point which should be strong enough to withstand the load of worker with safety margin. During roofing work, do not attach anchors to sheathing, single trusses or guardrails as these may not designed or strong enough to hold the load of falling workers. Anchors can be attached to a structural member or truss member.
11. The lifeline can be used to move from one point to another. A horizontal lifeline can be attached to the overhead structure which helps the uninterrupted protection while working. Self-retracting lifelines enable greater horizontal and vertical mobility than traditional 6-foot shock-absorbing lanyards.
12. Fall protection system can be combined with safety warning line system or with safety monitoring system.
13. All workers must know about what to do in the event of emergency i.e. fall. In case of emergency fall,
- ask for help,
- try to regain nearest access to the structure, try to place your legs on structure to relax your weight on harness.
- Try to pump your legs frequently to activate muscles and reduce the risk of venous buildup. Support points can be used to relieve pressure, delay symptoms and support muscle pumping.
- Using Suspension Trauma Straps, which are a pair of straps, allows you to get up to relax your leg muscles by removing the load and restoring blood circulation until help arrives. When a worker falls and rests, he unwinds the straps, hooks them, and presses his weight against the straps.

The consequences of failure of a Personal Fall Arrest System (PFAS) can be serious, therefore proper selection, inspection and training for workers is very important before use. Working at height without a proper work platform and without guard railings is the most dangerous job because it presents a high risk of serious injury.

This information is provided by Assurance Agency https:www.assuranceagency.com

Equipment and Systems, fall protection

 

Before you begin work on a project that requires fall protection (whenever you are working six feet or more above a lower level), your employer must provide all required fall protection equipment, and install all required fall and falling object protection systems.
The equipment and systems must comply with the OSHA fall protection rules at 29 CFR 1926.502.

The three most common methods of providing fall protection are guardrails, safety nets, and personal fall arrest systems. These are referred to as primary systems.

Guardrails
Guardrails are barriers put up to prevent falls to a lower level. They can be used to protect you from falls: from unprotected sides and edges; during leading edge work; through holes—including skylights; from ramps, runways, or other walkways; and into or onto dangerous equipment.

Safety nets
Safety nets are used as protection at unprotected sides, leading edges, working on the face of formwork or reinforcing steel, overhead or below surface bricklaying, work on roofs, precast concrete work, residential construction, and wall openings.

Personal fall arrest equipment
Body belts are not acceptable as part of a personal fall arrest system. Body belts are o.k. when used as positioning devices.

Only locking type snaphooks can be used.

Personal fall arrest equipment protects you from falling when working around unprotected sides and edges, leading edge work, in hoist areas when loading or unloading materials, form and reinforcing steel work, overhead or below surface bricklaying, work on low-sloped or steep roofs, precast concrete work, residential construction, and wall openings.

Other fall protection systems
The fall protection rule lists other systems and equipment you can use in certain situations. Some of them are safety monitoring systems, warning lines, and positioning devices.

In order to use any of the systems and equipment described above, you must be trained to do so by your company “competent person.” That person must be qualified to teach you those systems and equipment you will be using.

This information is provided by Assurance Agency https:www.assuranceagency.com

Control Explosives and Blasting Agents

 

 

Overview
OSHA regulates the manufacture, storage, transportation, and use of explosives, blasting agents, and pyrotechnics.

What types of explosives are there?

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, explosives can be broken down into three categories:

Class A—those explosives that have a detonating, or otherwise maximum hazard, such as dynamite, nitroglycerin, picric acid, blasting caps, and detonating primers.

Class B—those explosives that have a flammable hazard, such as propellant explosives, photographic flash powders, and some special fireworks.

Class C—those manufactured articles that contain Class A or Class B explosives, or both, as components but in restricted quantities.


Safe Operating Procedures

Explosives must be handled with extreme care. Some of the basic guidelines for handling explosives include:

• No smoking near the explosive material or while on a vehicle used to transport.

• No carrying of firearms.

• No reckless or careless loading, unloading, or driving of a transport vehicle.

Transporting Explosives

Individuals who transport explosives must be aware of several items when performing this duty. When transporting explosives or blasting agents, the operators of the transporting vehicles need to know and understand:

• The state and local laws pertinent to that particular area.•    Traffic regulations and the hazardous properties of the commodities being transported.

• How and when to contact the appropriate authorities such as local fire and police departments when transferring the explosives from one vehicle to another, or when a breakdown or collision occurs.

• The procedures for handling emergency situations.

• Proper and qualified supervision required for transfer from one vehicle to another.

This information is provided by Assurance Agency https:www.assuranceagency.com