We carry a complete line of fall protection solutions
to keep your employees safe.
Explore our product based upon type: Fall Prevention,
Fall Arrest, & Fall Restraint.
What's the difference?
Yes! That's a stuffed monkey in a fall protection harness! I got this picture from a friend over the Thanksgiving holiday and it got me thinking that the best way to help create safety conscious employees is to emphasize safety from a young age.
Believe me, I'm not suggesting that we start installing harnesses on playground equipment or get crazy about the fact that kids climb trees, but I am saying that some simple reinforcement at a young age can reap great rewards for creating a safer work environment.
Here are a few thoughts about emphasizing work safety with children:
Model it! This is really the most important thing isn't it? Practice what your preach. Monkey see, monkey do. If kids see parents and other role models with blatant disregard for their own safety, will they be led to to practice safety themselves? Maybe, but not likely!
Integrate Work Safety into Play - Kids love dress up. Make sure to pick up some extra personal protection equipment for your kids. They'll love wearing hard hats, safety goggles, you name it! My kids have little log cabin that they climb on in the back yard. Sometimes they play roofer and tie themselves off while banging on the plastic roof!
Observe and Comment - When you pass a work site or read a kids book, ask you kids to tell you if they are working safe or not. This will emphasize the importance of working safely as a part of how they view the environment.
Practice - This is right up there with modeling. When building a project with your kids make sure they are wearing the proper safety gear. Kid sized work gloves and safety goggles are not always easy to find a the local home store, but the Internet is your friend. Remember to buy in bulk...they'll go through them faster than you do!
Encourage Leadership - By leadership I mean the ability to "go against the flow." I am sure that a lot of unsafe working conditions are caused by the simple fact that people just do what others are doing instead of thinking "what should I be doing?" This kind of leadership has nothing to do with personality, it has everything to do with "making sure that your kids don't jump off a bridge just because their friends do."
These are just a few ideas to emphasize a safe work environment with children. Please share your own thoughts and comments below.
Video can be such a pain! Especially when it catches you ignoring a safety regulation. Unfortunately we all know that the "It won't happen to me!" mindset keeps many people from practicing the proper safety procedures. Perhaps on the statistical levels, people often do dangerous things without being hurt, but who wants to be the exception! Don't be the exception in the statistic? Practice the proper tie off procedures when working at heights!
OSHA is making their way into the heart of the You Tube Generation with a series of new animated safety videos. The video above focuses on the dangers of the leading edge and will hopefully we used to help people understand the real dangers of working at heights.
Find out more about these animated safety videos on the OSHA website.
OSHA has many safety videos that are available from their library for free. If you are an OSHA trainer you can request these videos via a PDF form available on the OSHA web site. Here is a listing of the videos that are available for the Fall Protection category. Take advantage of these resources if you can: it's your tax dollars at work.
Fall Protection
See also Housekeeping; Walking and Working Surfaces
The scope of this document is to give you a general outline of the different pros and cons of the fall protection systems that we offer.
There are two principal forms of fall protection covered in this document: Passive and Active.
Passive fall protection is mostly closely aligned with guardrail. Guardrail requires minimal inspection and virtually no training. Simply put, passive fall protection requires no action from the rooftop worker once the system is installed.
Active fall protection is typically aligned with horizontal lifelines and anchor points. It requires training, maintenance, inspection, and management on an on-going basis. Most importantly, it requires action from the user each time it is used.
Pricing information is based upon estimated pricing of typical systems as of September 2011, our assumption is that price changes affect all systems equally.
The best example of non-penetrating rooftop guardrail is the KeeGuard Rooftop Guardrail system. It is a counter-balanced system that is easy to install and can be adapted to just about any rooftop obstacle. Easily assembled by a two-man crew, it can protect large sections of roof perimeter or provide smaller sections of spot protection.
Costs
Installation Costs
Starts at $50.00 / linear foot + 16 man hours for ever 600’ linear feet
Training Costs
No training required
Pros and Cons
Pros
Cons
Easy to install, no specialized training is required
Can easily be modified on site no welding required
No ongoing maintenance or training is required
Versitile - Can be built around existing rooftop obstacles such as HVAC units and roofs of varying heights
Durable 100% galvanized system
Tested for OSHA compliance
Architectural “look and feel”
Initial product cost is higher than other systems
Parapet Guardrail
Parapet guardrails are permanent guardrails that are attached directly to the side or top of a roof parapet. Parapet guardrails are less expensive than non-penetrating guardrail but will require more labor costs and a suitable parapet to install.
Costs
Installation Costs
$28.00 / linear foot + 32 man hours for every 600 linear feet
Training Costs
No training required
Pros and Cons
Pros
Cons
Lower linear foot cost than a counter-balanced solution.
Easy to install, attaches directly to the parapet, avoiding penetration of the roof membrane.
No ongoing training is required
Can be built around existing rooftop obstacles such as HVAC units and roofs of varying heights
Suitable parapet is required
Railing has to be placed on parapet, making it more visible from below.
Higher installation costs
Special labor is required in most cases for proper sealing of penetrations
Penetrations may need to be maintained
Horizontal Lifeline
Horizontal lifeline systems are built along a particular path of the rooftop. The rooftop worker ties off to the system through the use of a harness and lanyard. Horizontal lifelines must be installed and maintained by specialized personnel. OSHA also requires all employees using the system to undergo competent person training for each system. Rescue plans and other safety management overheads are involved in all active fall protection systems.
Costs
Installation Costs
$40.00 / linear foot (varies greatly by location and configuration)
$100-200 equipment cost per person
Training Costs
Competent person training, system training
Pros and Cons
Pros
Cons
Lower cost of product than most guardrail solutions
Not visible from the ground
Can be used in some circumstance where passive solutions will not work
Allows for more mobility around a roof than standard anchor points
Must be installed by certified installers
Ongoing maintenance
OSHA competent person training required by all employees using the system
Inspection required before every use
Requires the employee to wear fall protection equipment and properly tie off to the system.
Ongoing purchase of PPE (harnesses, lanyards, etc.)
Requires valid rescue plan
Requires attention from management to document and all of the above and validate that the safety plan is being followed.
Limits productivity to workers
Non-Penetrating Tie Off Anchor Points
Solutions such as the Kee Safety Weightanka and the Guardian Hammer fit into this category of portable, non-penetrating tie off points. These products allow workers to tie off in a particular location, but gives them the freedom to move the system when it is needed elsewhere.
Costs
Installation Costs
$3-4,000 for unit and one persons equipment
$100/linear foot (assuming a unit can protect 30 feet)
Training Costs
Competent person training, system training
Pros and Cons
Pros
Cons
Systems are portable and can be moved
Relatively low cost of entry
Not visible from the ground
Does not penetrate the roof
OSHA competent person training required by all employees using the system
Inspection required before every use
Requires the employee to wear fall protection equipment and properly tie off to the system.
Ongoing purchase of PPE (harnesses, lanyards, etc.)
Requires valid rescue plan
Higher risk of incorrect use.
Requires attention from management to document and all of the above and validate that the safety plan is being followed.
Limits productivity to workers
Adds additional work time to each job for setting up and tearing down the anchor point.
Allows limited access before needing to be repositioned.
For additional reading on the difference in short-term and long-term costs between these two solutions, please see this series of posts on our web site:
Dan is our on site safety genius. He reads OSHA manuals for fun. Kidding aside, Dan's experience in the safety industry will be an asset to you and your company as you evaluate safety products and services. He likes receiving calls on his new iPhone, so give him a ring to talk about safety standards, equipment and services.
If you like what you are reading here on the Simplified Safety Blog
consider creating a link back to our web site. We've made it easy, click here.
If you are interested in contributing to our blog, please contact Chris
via the contact page. Thanks again for reading our blog!
