Articles Tagged with ''Fall Protection''

Following a major hailstorm on May 18 and a resulting increase in construction, OSHA is extending enforcement activity and asks for Billings-area employers, workers and consumers to protect roofing and construction workers against fall hazards.

MSA Safety, Inc. introduces the EVOTECH® and Workman® Arc Flash Full Body Harnesses designed to self-extinguish quickly to prevent melting or dripping in the event of an arc flash. These innovative harnesses help to keep workers safe around electrical hazards at heights.

By Harry Dietz and Charlotte Norgaard, National Roofing Contractors Association. A checkup on your roof system in the fall and spring can help diagnose potential problems early. NRCA recommends you hire a professional roofing contractor to assist you with checking your roof. However, NRCA realizes many homeowners prefer to perform an initial inspection themselves.

Workers demolishing a three-unit, three-story residential building in Brooklyn's Prospect-Lefferts Gardens section were exposed to potentially fatal falls due to their employer's failure to provide and ensure the use of lifesaving fall protection. As a result, OSHA has proposed $45,200 in penalties against Brooklyn contractor US Demco of Brooklyn Inc. for one willful and seven serious violations of workplace safety standards.

The employer of two workers who died while working on a freeway overpass has been cited by OSHA for four safety violations. R.R. Dawson Bridge Co. LLC exposed workers to fall hazards, failed to provide employees working near the bridge's edge with required fall protection and failed to inspect employee fall arrest systems before use, according to OSHA investigators.

Fall protection (1926.501) was the most frequently-cited OSHA standard in fiscal year 2013 – specially the period October 2012 through September 2013. OSHA conducted 7,900 inspections involving the fall protection standards, a very high number compared to almost any other agency rule, and due to the fact OSHA devotes about half of its inspections to construction sites.

Ensure that personal fall arrest systems will, when stopping a fall: Limit maximum arresting force to 1,800 pounds. Be rigged such that an employee can neither free fall more than 6 feet nor contact any lower level. Bring an employee to a complete stop and limit maximum deceleration distance to 3½ feet.

The June 2-6, 2014 National Safety Stand-Down was a resounding success, according to the Center for Protection of Worker Rights (CPWR). Here are three case studies:

OSHA stresses in a fall prevention fact sheet that falls from roofs can be prevented. Here’s how: DO: • Wear a harness and always stay connected • Make sure your harness fits •Use guardrails or lifelines •Inspect all fall protection equipment before use •Guard or cover all holes, openings, and skylights