Safety Harness and Fall Protection

Safety harnesses are used to secure an employee who is working at heights. Different types of situations require various types of safety harnesses. Especially the workers who need fall protection, and workers who are entering into confined spaces, rock climbers and adventures, and cave explorers also need safety harnesses to protect themselves.

As we know harnesses are for our safety. However these safety harnesses can also kill. It can be deadly equipment whenever a worker is suspended for durations of more than five minutes in an upright posture, with the legs relaxed straight beneath the body. This can happen in different situations in the industry.

A carpenter who working alone is caught in mid-fall by his safety harness. The possibility to die is 15 minutes later from suspension trauma. It is a state the body reaches, once the fall has happened. it is a complicated state.

An electrical technician who was with a safety harness is lowered into a shaft after testing for toxic gases. He is lowered on a cable and is positioned at the right level for his next work. After few minutes he became unconscious. But others don't realize it. After 15 minutes a dead body is hauled out. The reason for this problem is called suspension trauma.

Most of the users of fall protection equipment, rescue people, and other safety and health professionals are still not aware of these kinds of hazards. Well-trained people only allowed to do works at the heights. There are certain certifications required to perform these jobs.

Training in this field is really important. As well as the inspection of all equipment including fall protection safety harness is required in a minimum 6 months gap. to make sure the safety of the employees, it is necessary. All the employees should be aware of all the upcoming hazardous and risks of this kind of works.

Fall Protection in Rope Access

Fall Protection in Rope Access

A comprehensive fall protection program avoids injuries that secure lives and makes better business sense. In most industries, there are areas where workers are subjected to fall hazards. In 2010 there are 635 fatal falls resulted in billions of dollars in workers' compensation costs.

According to Liberty Mutual, the leading private provider of workers’ compensation insurance in the United States, on-the-job injuries cost employers nearly $1 billion per week in payments to injured employees and their medical providers. We can prevent many of these injuries and fatalities by developing and implementing comprehensive fall protection programs in the workplace.

Fall hazard elimination should be considered first once fall hazards have been identified by a competent person. This is consists of redesigning the working environment and the work processes and procedures and it is known as “engineering out the hazard”. If this is impractical due to extensive modifications and cost, fall protection should be considered next.

What is Rope access and Where we can use it?

Rope access is a method that is used to reach the edges and corners at the height which is not able to reach normally. We can define it as the technical progress on the rope when conventional access methods can't be used.

Rope access techniques required technicians as it indicates. Because this job is at the highest risk. Normal workers can't use it easily. They need to get training on it. And it should be approved by Industrial Rope Access Trade Association (IRATA). The rope access technique developed by IRATA is employed during a wide selection of repair, maintenance, inspection, and access work.

IRATA has formed in the UK within the late 1980s, it is an acronym for the industrial Rope Access Trade Association to resolve maintenance challenges within the offshore oil and gas industry. Rope Access Equipment Kit will be used for the activities related to it. This kit will be included all the safety items required to perform this action.

Fall Protection for Transportation Industry

FALL PROTECTION FOR Transportation industry

Sometimes in the transportation industry workers requires to climb on the top of the tanker trucks, flatbeds, and even open or closed trailers. It’s sometimes unknown that a lot of people die falling from 20 feet or from higher heights. Therefore fall arresters are important for them.

There are so many risky jobs for transportation professionals, but the daily work of servicing big vehicles and loading and unloading trucks can make serious and life-threatening fall hazards. The transportation industry is often overlooked in regard to fall protection, and yet many employees suffering serious damages and even death each year falling from tanker and flatbed trucks, among other types of transportation systems.

Even so, there are only some Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules that apply to fall protection for drivers and other employees climbing on the top of the trucks and trailers to strap and protect loads. For years, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration didn't implement clear regulations in respect to the transportation trade.

Fall arresters are implemented for employees many times. In 2004, several regulations were implemented for the safety of employees, however, one particular regulation was too broad, as it mentioned a wide range of applications. This specific rule implemented to unprotected corners and areas (in general) and falls under OSHA 1926.501(b)(1).

It states: Each worker on a horizontal or vertical working surface with a non-protected side or corners which is 6 feet (1.8 m) or more above a lower level shall be protected from falling by the use of guardrail or safety systems, or personal fall arrest systems.

This rule was written and introduced to mention any working or walking surface that workers might be exposed to while conducting their job. It was most definitely introduced to include flatbed trucks and trailers, specifically because employees must use these surfaces to conduct their daily duties. But, it can make some confusion in the transportation industry in regard to fall protection.

Why Fall Protection is avoided by employees?

Why Fall Protection is avoided by employees?

OSHA requires workers to use fall protection when working at a height of four feet or higher for the general industry. This requirement is intended to protect workers in the event of a fall, but many people will find reasons to avoid using fall protection.

Unfortunately, these reasons often seem valid at the moment, but they can have severe consequences. Here are some common reasons people don’t use fall protection, and why those reasons aren’t sufficient for the risk.

1. IT’S UNCOMFORTABLE

This reason is a simple one that people commonly identify as a legitimate excuse for choosing not to use fall protection. Uncomfortable equipment can be distracting and interfere with work, and fall protection harnesses aren’t necessarily designed for comfort. However, fall protection can save a worker’s life in the event of a fall, and it should be worn at all times, even if it isn’t perfectly comfortable. Additionally, many high-quality safety harnesses are intended to reduce discomfort as much as possible. Using good equipment can be an easy way to address comfort concerns.

2. IT GETS IN THE WAY OF THE JOB

This reason is another way workers see fall protection equipment as an inconvenience. Some workers feel that the safety harness can limit their mobility or that the SRL can interfere with their work. Often, this issue comes down to a matter of training. With proper training, workers can understand how to adjust equipment to fit correctly and keep it from getting in the way. Using the right fall protection equipment also makes it easier to minimize equipment interference.

3. IT ADDS EXTRA TIME TO THE JOB

This reason is one where workers might actually feel like they’re doing the right thing by choosing not to use fall protection. They can get started sooner, which means they can finish and move on to the next job sooner. By skipping the fall protection or safety harness, they’re saving time, which saves money, right?

The problem with this thinking is those fall injuries can actually be very costly in both time and money, and they cost US companies billions of dollars every year. Not using fall protection might save a few seconds, but it’s just not worth the risk.