Page 33 - OHS, March 2020

Using personal protective equipment correctly can defy gravity’s next win.
keep these workers safe.
Designated areas are portions of an elevated walking-working
surface marked with warning lines around their perimeter. Em- ployees in a designated area may work without additional fall protection. The warning line that surrounds a designated area as a barrier must provide an adequate warning of unprotected sides or edges that are beyond the designated area.
Employers may also limit access to areas with fall hazards only to authorized employees. An authorized employee is one who has been trained to work in an area with fall hazards and has been taught about the specific fall hazards present.
Personal Fall Arrest Systems
Sometimes, guardrails, covers and warning lines aren’t practical, or they don’t provide adequate protection for the work being per- formed. Personal fall arrest systems (PFAS) are personal protective equipment: a last line of defense against a known hazard.
As the name suggests, these systems have more than one com- ponent. They consist of at least three devices: an anchorage point, a connector and a body harness. All three must be in place and in good condition to provide adequate protection.
Anchorage points are secure areas where lanyards, ropes and other connecting devices may be attached. These points must be structurally sound and be capable of supporting at least 5,000 pounds per person anchored.
Connectors include lanyards, lifelines and positioning systems that allow employees to move from the anchorage point to the area where they will work. Connectors should not be long enough to allow an employee to go over an unprotected side or edge.
In a fall event, body harnesses help to distribute the weight of the fall over the entire trunk of the body instead of putting all the force on one area. Body harnesses, as well as all other fall protec- tion equipment, must be checked before each use and should be destroyed when they show signs of wear or when they have been involved in a fall event.
It is impossible to eliminate gravity—at least on Earth. But rec- ognizing fall hazards and implementing engineering and adminis- trative controls and using personal protective equipment correctly can defy gravity’s next win.
Karen D. Hamel, CSP, WACH, is a regulatory compliance profes- sional, trainer, and technical writer for New Pig. She has more than 24 years of experience helping EHS professionals find solutions to meet EPA, OSHA, and DOT regulations and has had more than 100 articles published on a variety of EHS topics. She can be reached at 1-800-HOT-HOGS® (468-4647) or by email, karenh@newpig.com.
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MARCH 2020 | Occupational Health & Safety 27 1/24/20 11:27 AM
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