Step up your safety measures: 3 strategies for preventing falls
Falls are a leading cause of fatalities and injuries, so preventing them is critical.
To reduce the risk of falls, employers need to be aware of potential fall hazards and look for ways to prevent them.
3 strategies to prevent falls:
3 strategies to prevent falls:
1. Eliminating the hazards
Under the hierarchy of controls, the basic idea is controlling a hazard at its source, which is the best way to protect employees. Elimination and substitution are always going to be the most effective, but they also tend to be the most difficult to implement.
For employers that are still at the design or development stage of a production process, it might be easier to eliminate fall hazards. For an existing process, however, major changes in equipment and procedures may be required to eliminate or substitute a hazard. That isn’t always feasible.
2. Using passive methods
Using passive methods means focusing on engineering controls, such as guardrails, covers, and fall-restraint systems. The more commonly known passive system, at least in most industrial settings, are guardrails.
A guardrail system is a physical barrier to prevent workers from falling to a lower level. For general industry, some type of fall protection (like a guardrail) is required at four feet or more. According to OSHA, guardrails must meet certain requirements. They must have a top rail and a mid-rail, or intermediate vertical members. The top rail must be able to withstand 200 pounds of outward or downward force. And the mid-rail must be midway between the top rail and the surface below. The regulation does list some other requirements and goes into further detail about the exact dimensions that need to be used.
A common question employers have involves the vertical supports. OSHA does not specify a maximum distance between the support posts, as long as the structure can withstand the required force on the top rail.
3. Using administrative controls
Using administrative controls utilizes designated areas, warning lines, and safety monitors. Employers can use designated areas in limited situations. It’s basically a warning line around an area where employees can work without other fall protection. These can be allowed on low-slope roofs. Employees must have training in how to set up the area.
Designated areas can be used for temporary and infrequent work that is at least six feet away from the edge. That means occasional work (like monthly) that takes an hour or so, like changing a filter on a roof-mounted air conditioning unit. A designated area can also be used for work at least 15 feet from the edge, even if the job takes several days.
Finally, if the work is both temporary and infrequent, AND at least 15 feet from the edge, the workers don’t need fall protection – not even a designated area. The general industry regulations cover these in three sections, so employers should be familiar with all the requirements. Employees can only use these on low-slope roofs, not on other elevated surfaces.
Fall statistics:
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that work-related fatalities due to falls, slips, and trips increased 1.8 percent in 2022, resulting in 865 fatalities, up from 850 in 2021. Most fatalities in this category (80.9 percent) were due to falls to lower levels, which had 700 fatalities in 2022. This was a 2.9-percent increase from 680 fatalities in 2021.
Workers in construction and extraction occupations had the second most fatalities (1,056) in 2022 compared to other occupation groups. Falls, slips, or trips were the events precipitating 423 of these fatalities.
Key to remember: Falls are a leading cause of fatalities and injuries, so preventing them is critical. How employers go about that is the tough part.