Page 21 - Occupational Health & Safety, January 2018

Specifications usually state that a harness can be used for a period of 10 years, if inspected annually. But is mere visual inspection really enough? How can a safety manager be sure that webbing is still suf- ficiently fall resistant, even after only two or three years, if it has been exposed to harsh conditions during that period?
such minimal elevation. They won’t secure themselves or the equipment properly, or they may place equipment in inappropriate areas where the footing isn’t secure.
A company’s safety culture strongly in- fluences the way workers behave when they work at height—and therefore affects the likelihood of accidents.
Many companies are entirely compli- ance-driven. They may supply workers with the correct PPE and sometimes de- liver basic training, but once they meet es- sential legal requirements, their efforts end. Employees are furnished the equipment for the job and are expected to know how to use it correctly. Such companies believe that since they have provided the mini- mum that is required; if something goes wrong, the worker must be at fault.
Companies in a second category take a somewhat more progressive approach. They actively seek to reduce risks, albeit in a short-term or at most medium-term time frame. Driven by data such as key perfor- mance indicators (KPIs), these companies may take training seriously. They inspect PPE dutifully and managers attend the site, monitoring workers to make sure they are using their equipment correctly.
Yet regulatory compliance or short- term thinking alone is clearly not enough to truly ensure workers are kept safe and to avoid serious accidents with injuries or fa- talities. A third category—one to which all companies should aspire—comprises em- ployers with a strong safety culture. These organizations take a long-term approach and recognize that good safety manage- ment is a business enabler rather than a burden. In industries where the competi- tion for skilled labor is fierce, such as oil & gas and utilities, demonstrating that a company cares about the health, safety, and well-being of workers can go a long way to- ward helping it retain staff. Training and su- pervision are taken seriously. Management regularly inspects equipment, conducts practices on site, encourages feedback from workers, and disseminates best practices.
Displaying this cultural commitment helps instill positive safety behavior throughout the organization.
Keep an Eye on
New Safety Equipment
However, sometimes even commitment to a strong safety culture isn’t quite enough. Some problems are still in an ongoing pro- cess of being solved by safety equipment manufacturers. As users identify issues, manufacturers respond with new equip- ment. Perceptive safety managers track these developments and make investments in new solutions when circumstances jus- tify them.
For example, a major challenge manu- facturers face is how to assess the aging of materials used in products such as safety harnesses. Specifications usually state that a harness can be used for a period of 10 years, if inspected annually. But is mere visual in- spection really enough? How can a safety manager be sure that webbing is still suf- ficiently fall resistant, even after only two or three years, if it has been exposed to harsh conditions during that period?
In response, the PPE industry is focus- ing on the development of an aging detec- tor. This should enable safety managers to determine if the resistance of a given mate- rial will still be strong enough to hold in the event of a fall.
Safety at the Edge
In a related area, the industry is seeing changes in the use of self-retractable life- lines (SRLs). Until now, companies could use SRLs (for both horizontal and vertical applications), even when workers were car- rying out work close to the edge of a roof. All users had to do was add a steel sling at the end of the SLR to ensure that it didn’t break on the roof edge.
A new regulation, however, enforces stricter controls. This stringent new safe- ty standard for fall arrest devices (ANSI Z359.14-2014, Class B & LE) directs manu- facturers and employers to focus attention
on solutions and practices that will pre- vent the severing of a lifeline and protect a worker in the event of a fall.
Traditional SRL designs have not ad- dressed safeguarding workers from dangers associated with an edge. But without proper edge protection, conventional lifelines risk being compromised or severed. In fact, up to 80 percent of fall protection applications have the potential for a lifeline to come into contact with an edge during a fall. So there’s a tremendous need for a safety product that can protect against this risk.
In response, manufacturers are mov- ing to offer versatile new SRLs designs. For sharp-edge applications, these feature a durable cable lifeline. Models for smooth- edge applications are equipped with a durable web lifeline that is cut, abrasion, and chemical resistant. These new choices should provide welcome solutions for safety managers with employees working at height—and at the edge.
Working at height carries inherent haz- ards. Risks need to be properly assessed and work carefully planned, even at rela- tively low elevations. Regulation is an im- portant driver for raising standards, but compliance alone is not enough. A mature safety culture instills positive safety behav- iors, while tailor-made product solutions can provide further invaluable protection.
John Eckel is a Senior Technical Training Specialist for Honeywell Industrial Safety, www.millerfallprotection.com.
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