Fall Protection

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Fall protection applies when workers are working at heights of 6 feet or more above a lower level. It also covers protection from falling objects, falls from tripping over or falling through holes, and protection when walking and working around dangerous equipment without regard to height.

Fall protection should also apply to what scenarios below 6 feet in relation to dangerous machinery? Select all that apply

Fall protection or falling object protection may be needed for a worker who is... on a ramp, runway, or another walkway at the edge of an excavation in a hoist area on a steep roof

Guardrail Systems Guardrail systems are barriers erected to prevent workersfrom falling to lower levels.

## When workers are using stilts, the top edge of the top rail, or equivalent member, must be increased an amount equal to the height of the stilts. Other structural members must be installed so that there are no openings in the guardrail system more than 19 inches wide. Guardrail systems must be capable of withstanding a force of at least 200 pounds applied within 2 inches of the top edge, in any outward or downward direction, at any point along the top edge. Guardrail systems must have a surface to protect workers from punctures or lacerations and to prevent clothing from snagging. ## If guardrails are used on ramps and runways, they must be erected on each unprotected side or edge. If guardrail systems are used around holes being used as access points (such as ladderways), gates must be used. Alternatively, the point of access must be offset to prevent workers from accidentally walking straight into the hole.

Safety Net Systems When safety nets are used, they must be installed as close as practicable under the walking or working surface on which workers are working and never more than 30 feet below that level.

Do not use defective nets. Inspect nets at least once a week for wear, damage, or deterioration of components such as net connection points. Remove materials, tools, and other items as soon as possible from the net and at least before the next work shift. Do not allow one weak link to compromise a safety net. Use connections between safety net panels that are as strong as integral net components and spaced no more than 6 inches apart.

Personal Fall Arrest Systems ## A personal fall arrest system is a system used to safely stop (arrest) a worker who is falling from a working level. It consists of an anchorage, connectors, and a body harness. It also may include a lanyard, deceleration device, lifeline, or suitable combinations of these.

## Limit the maximum arresting force on a worker to 1,800 pounds when used with a body harness. Be rigged so that a worker can neither free fall more than 6 feet nor contact any lower level. Bring a worker to a complete stop and limit the maximum deceleration distance a worker travels to 3.5 feet. Have sufficient strength to withstand twice the potential impact energy of a worker free falling a distance of 6 feet or the free fall distance permitted by the system, whichever is less. Be inspected prior to each use for wear, damage, and other deterioration.

This lesson will look at areas such as... Guardrails Overhand Bricklaying and Related Work Roofing Work Toeboards Canopies

Roofing Work

Requirements Employers must provide a fall protection training program to workers who might be exposed to fall hazards. Training must include how to recognize fall hazards and how to minimize them.

## The limitations on the use of mechanical equipment during the performance of roofing work on low-slope roofs. ## The correct procedures for equipment and materials handling and storage and the erection of overhead protection. ## The role of workers in fall protection plans. Product Y will have a discounted price at launch

Verification of Training Employers must verify worker training by preparing a written certification record. The record must contain the name or other identity of the worker trained, the dates of the training, and the signature of either the person who conducted the training or the employer.

When an employer has reason to believe that an affected worker does not recognize existing fall hazards at some point after the initial training, the employer is required to provide retraining for that worker. For example, workers must be retrained when...

Remember you have the right to the following!

Controlled access zone (CAZ) An area in which certain work (for example, overhand bricklaying) may take place without the use of guardrail systems, personal fall arrest systems, or safety net systems; and where access to the zone is controlled. Dangerous equipment Equipment (such as pickling or galvanizing tanks, degreasing units, machinery, electrical equipment, and other units) which, as a result of form or function, may be hazardous to workers who fall onto or into such equipment. Deceleration device Any mechanism (such as a rope grab, rip-stitch lanyard, specially-woven lanyard, tearing or deforming lanyards, automatic self-retracting lifelines/lanyards, etc.) which serves to dissipate a substantial amount of energy during a fall arrest, or otherwise limit the energy imposed on a worker during fall arrest. Deceleration distance The additional vertical distance a falling employee travels, excluding lifeline elongation and free fall distance, before stopping, from the point at which the deceleration device begins to operate. It is measured as the distance between the location of a worker’s body belt or body harness attachment point at the moment of activation (at the onset of fall arrest forces) of the deceleration device during a fall, and the location of that attachment point after the worker comes to a full stop.

Lanyard flexible line of rope, wire rope, or strap which generally has a connector at each end for connecting the body belt or body harness to a deceleration device, lifeline, or anchorage. Leading edge The edge of a floor, roof, or formwork for a floor or other walking or working surface (such as the deck) which changes location as additional floor, roof, decking, or formwork sections are placed, formed, or constructed. A leading edge is considered to be an “unprotected side and edge” during periods when it is not actively and continuously under construction. Lifeline A component consisting of a flexible line for connection to an anchorage at one end to hang vertically (vertical lifeline), or for connection to anchorages at both ends to stretch horizontally (horizontal lifeline), and which serves as a means for connecting other components of a personal fall arrest system to the anchorage. Low-slope roof A roof having a slope less than or equal to 4 in 12 (vertical to horizontal). Lower levels Those areas or surfaces to which a worker can fall. Such areas or surfaces include, but are not limited to, ground levels, floors, platforms, ramps, runways, excavations, pits, tanks, material, water, equipment, structures, or portions thereof.

Rope grab a deceleration device which travels on a lifeline and automatically, by friction, engages the lifeline and locks so as to arrest the fall of a worker. A rope grab usually employs the principles of inertial locking, cam/level locking, or both. Roof the exterior surface on the top of a building. This does not include floors or formwork which, because a building has not been completed, temporarily become the top surface of a building. Roofing work The hoisting, storage, application, and removal of roofing materials and equipment, including related insulation, sheet metal, and vapor barrier work, but not including the construction of the roof deck. Safety-monitoring system A safety system in which a competent person is responsible for recognizing and warning workers of fall hazards. Self-retracting lifeline/lanyard A deceleration device containing a drum-wound line which can be slowly extracted from, or retracted onto, the drum under slight tension during normal worker movement, and which, after onset of a fall, automatically locks the drum and arrests the fall.