Page 26 - Occupational Health & Safety, July 2017

FALL PROTECTION
Before the Fall: Recognize Fall Hazards and Conduct Training to Prevent Incidents
Even if a fall hazard isn’t specifically addressed, if it can be identified, plans need to be made to mitigate the hazard and prevent employee injuries.
BY KAREN D. HAMEL Until recently, general industry employers were required to use guardrails to pre- vent fall from height incidents. Updates to the Walking/Working Surfaces Rule in 2016 still require employers to identify fall hazards throughout their facility. But like construction ac- tivities, general industry employers may now choose whatever methods they feel will best prevent fall from
height injuries or deaths.
With this greater flexibility comes the renewed
responsibility to mitigate fall hazards wherever they may occur, by whatever means is necessary to prevent incidents. The rule revisions also add new, specific ver- biage about training and the employer’s duty to have fall protection and protection from falling objects.
Fall Hazards
A fall hazard is any circumstance or condition that may cause an employee to fall to a lower level or fall on the same level. Although the numbers and types of fall hazards may vary greatly throughout industry sectors, no facility is without fall hazards.
For low-risk facilities, such as a call center with- out production, manufacturing or distribution opera- tions, fall risks may be very minimal. In facilities that are built to established engineering codes; stairways, skylights, and windows are already likely to have guardrails and other safety measures in place. When this is the case, fall hazards may be limited to slips and falls to the same level in parking lots, sidewalks, hall- ways, and entrances. But employers are still respon- sible for identifying each fall hazard and documenting what measures are in place to prevent incidents.
Manufacturing and other industry sectors, espe- cially those with production and distribution opera- tions, are likely to have many different types of fall hazards, including falls from height, falls to the same level, and falling object hazards. Fall hazards must be identified for all walking and working surfaces throughout the facility, as well as any areas that em- ployees may use to gain access or egress to those areas. This includes ladders, aisles, stairs, ramps, scaffolds, roofs, runways, dockboards, and step bolts.
Some fall hazards, such as stairways, dockboards, scaffolds, ladders, and stepbolts, now have specific fall protection requirements. But, even if a fall hazard isn’t specifically addressed, if it can be identified, plans need to be made to mitigate the hazard and prevent
employee injuries.
Duty to Have Fall Protection
Employers must protect employees who are exposed to fall hazards and falling object hazards (29 CFR 1910.28). Protection can take several different forms and may include a combination of procedures, equip- ment, devices, and/or systems that are used to prevent a fall or the effects of a fall.
The duty to have fall protection standard covers 14 types of fall hazards, including some that may go over- looked, such as: hoist areas, holes, dangerous equip- ment, pits, ladders, billboards, and low-slope roofs. It also covers other walking-working surfaces with unprotected sides or edges that are 4 feet or more, as well as walking-working surface hazards that are not otherwise addressed.
Fall hazards can be protected by using guardrails, handrails, floor markings, safety net systems, personal fall protection or arrest systems, travel restraint sys- tems, positioning systems, or other effective means. For low-slope roofs, employers may create a “desig- nated area” that is identified by warning lines that al- low employees to work in that area without fall pro- tection devices.
With the increased flexibility to choose the best method of preventing falls, instead of relying solely upon guardrails, OSHA has made the presumption that at least one of the methods listed in the rule will fit an employer’s needs. However, if none of the meth-
26 Occupational Health & Safety | JULY 2017
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