Young construction worker dies from fall

Fall Protection - Iowa Construction Safety - Workers Injury or Death Prevention

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, one-third of fatalities in the construction industry are caused by falling from elevation. The implementation of a fall protection plan could help decrease the number of deaths from falls by a significant amount.

Under OSHA guidelines, a fall protection plan is required when there is leading edge work being performed 6 ft. above the ground and conventional fall protection equipment (such as personal fall arrest systems, guardrails, and safety nets) create a greater hazard or are impractical. The fall protection plan is to be prepared by a “competent person” specifically for the site, and must contain reasons why conventional fall protection systems are infeasible or more hazardous.

A fall protection plain contains a number of sections. First, a fall protection plan should contain a statement of company policy which discusses the responsibilities employers and the purpose of the fall protection plan. The statement of company policy should also discuss the areas and activities of the project where non-conventional means of fall protection are necessary. The areas where a fall protection plan applies are known as “controlled access zones,” and only trained and experienced employees should be authorized to enter.

Following the statement of company policy should be a section outlining the fall protection systems which will be used on the project. There are a number of fall protection systems available, such as: positioning device systems, warning line systems, and safety monitoring systems.

Next, the fall protection plan should contain a section outlining the reasons why conventional fall protection systems were hazardous and/or impracticable. This section should discuss the individual fall protection systems that were initially considered and discuss in detail the reasons why each system was hazardous or impracticable.

Finally, the fall protection plan should state who is responsible for implementation and enforcement of the protection plan, how changes to the plan will be made, and what happens if an accident occurs. Changes to the protection plan will be approved by the person who authored the construction plan, and all employees should be trained on any new procedures. If an accident should occur, an investigation should occur and the plan reviewed to determine if changes need to be made to prevent other accidents from occurring.

Construction safety - OSHA 10

When it comes to construction safety, common sense generally isn't enough (many workers have learned this the hard way...) Thus, it's important for construction workers to be educated or trained in the field of construction safety.

In order to do so, OSHA has developed the OSHA 10, which requires workers to complete a ten-hour service and training course in the field of construction safety. The course was designed to educated workers not only of safety issues relevant to their equipment and location, but also to health concerns that may exist. The course can be completed either can be completed in various formats, most popularly online; however, regardless of whether the training takes place in a classroom, at a job-site or in a home office, the requirements for each remain the same. Each ten-hour course costs $125 and presents an introduction to OSHA and overviews of scaffolding, fall protection, cranes, trenches, and power tools (among many other issues).

Upon successful completion of the course, each worker is granted his Department of Labor OSHA construction safety and health ten-hour completion card. Workers may also elect to complete the OSHA-30 training course, which covers everything in the OSHA 10 course as well as many, many others. Though the cost of the course is higher ($295 total), the course is taught in essentially the same exact way the ten hour course is taught. Upon completion, workers receive their Department of Labor OSHA construction and safety 30-hour completion card.

Many websites (including OSHA) offer materials online for instructors teaching the course to other workers. Since the ultimate goal of these materials is to benefit the workers, they emphasize hazard identification, avoidance, and control rather than standards. The purpose of these courses is to provide practical solutions to real situations that workers can take and put to use should an issue arise at a jobsite.

As such, it is incredibly important for all workers to not only pass, but to actually learn the materials included in each course. In order to improve material retention, many websites have begun offering study guides and training manuals intended to improve worker performance and tighten security measures at jobsites around the nation.