No matter how often or rarely you work at height, safety should always be your top priority. A simple task can turn into a terrible injury or death with just one mistake. You should always be ready to protect your workers from falling.
We have mentioned some ways to keep your employees safe while working at heights below.
What Does Working at Heights Mean?
Working at height means doing any job where someone could fall and hurt themselves. Operating at a peak could mean working from a ladder, the roof’s edge, a hole in the floor, or even a loading dock. Any change in the height of more than 4 feet in general industry is required to have fall protection. Here are some safety tips to help make working at the height less dangerous.
1. Use a Railing
Whenever you can, use a handrail. Railings are a type of passive protection, the easiest and most recommended way to ensure that workers are safe and following the rules. They do not need training or extra gear because there is nothing they need to do to ensure they are safe (other than staying within the rail). Railing systems are available for almost every kind of roof, such as a non-penetrating roof railing, a railing mounted on a parapet, and a metal roof railing. No matter what style you choose, rails are the easiest way to prevent falls once they are set up.
2. Select Appropriate PPE
To use Personal Fall Arrest Systems (PFAS), you must pick the right gear. No matter how much they cost, all full-body harnesses that meet ANSI standards will work the same. Still, the price difference might be a good thing. Sometimes it is just a name change, but sometimes you get or lose features like more D-rings, fire-resistant materials, or an arc-safe design. Sometimes, a more expensive harness costs more just because it is made to be more comfortable.
3. Examine Your PPE
It is excellent that you have all the tools you need to ensure your workplace is safe. But that will not matter if the systems are worn out enough to break. Harnesses and lanyards must be checked at least once a year by a qualified person (one with the knowledge to recognize the hazard and the authority to correct it). But PPE should be checked out by the user before every use. Anyone using the devices needs to know what they are looking for, what is okay, what is not, and what to do if something goes wrong. A pre-use inspection should take a little time, but it should check everything.
4. Make Sure You Know How Far You Can Fall
You can wear all the fall protection gear in the world, but it would only help if it works before hitting something. This might seem like a “common sense” statement, but you would be surprised how easy it is to get it wrong. It is not unusual to see a worker 10 to 12 feet off the ground wearing a 6-foot lanyard with a device to slow them down on a construction site or in a plant maintenance team. Even though it might seem like it should work at first glance, there are several reasons why it would not.
Conclusion
It would be best if you had the proper training, focus, and safety rules to work safely at a height. If you take shortcuts or do not pay attention, you could hurt yourself badly or even die. Get in touch with fall safety experts or Shine on Anchors for a free consultation to learn more about what you can do to reduce fall risk.
