Page 40 - Occupational Health & Safety, November 2018

FALL PROTECTION
Stopping Fatal Falls
Falls figured prominently in OSHA’s enforcement actions during August and September 2018.
BY JERRY LAWS
Five of OSHA’s ten most violated construction standards during fiscal year 2017 were related to falls. And one of the other five is 1926.453, which requires the use of fall protection by
workers in aerial lifts. The list explains why OSHA and many manufacturers of safety equipment put so much emphasis on fall protection and fall prevention.
At the top of the list of OSHA’s FY 2017 ten most- violated construction standards is Fall Protection— General Requirements (1926.501), followed by Scaf- folding (1926.451), Ladders (1926.1053), and Fall Protection—Training (1926.503). The aerial lifts stan- dard was eighth on the list, with Fall Protection—Sys- tems Criteria and Practices (1926.502) ranked tenth.
Falls are the leading cause of death in the U.S. con- struction industry, with 370 fatal falls to a lower level representing 37.3 percent of the 991 construction fa- talities in 2016, according to BLS data cited by OSHA in the online page for its campaign to prevent falls in construction.
The campaign includes the annual National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction; the fifth annual Stand-Down took place during the week
of May 7-11, 2018, with OSHA, NIOSH, and CPWR urging employers to take part. This was the seventh year of the National Construction Fall Prevention Campaign. The two federal agencies ask employers to set aside time during the week to have open discus- sions about fall prevention.
The campaign seeks to raise awareness among workers and employers about common fall hazards in construction and how to prevent falls from scaffolds, ladders, and roofs.
Elements of the National Safety Stand-Down
The agencies reported that during the past four years, thousands of companies participated in the National Safety Stand-Down, reaching some 7.5 million em- ployees across the United States and internationally through more than 130 public events and thousands of private stand-downs per year. OSHA says the focus for employers should be to:
■ PLAN ahead to get the job done safely, begin- ning by decided how a job will be done, what tasks it will involve, and what safety equipment is needed to complete each task;
36 Occupational Health & Safety | NOVEMBER 2018
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