Are Businesses Required to Perform Fall Hazard Surveys?
The #1 cited OSHA violation in 2023 was fall protection. 13 years running. The count of violations is more than double second place, which was hazard communication.
This means people are at risk while working because falls aren’t properly addressed and those hazards aren’t properly communicated.
A key component to fixing any problem is to first identify and define it. A fall hazard survey does exactly that. Its purpose is to collect information about fall hazards, like how often workers are exposed to them and the severity of the hazards. The fall hazard survey should also include recommended solutions for fall protection.
It should be easy to see why fall hazard surveys are necessary. But, are fall hazard surveys required?
Yes. Yes, they are.
OSHA Requires Fall Hazard Surveys
OSHA’s whole purpose is to ensure that the workplace is a healthy and safe environment for every worker there. However, if you go into the fall protection chapters of General Industry (1910.28 and 1910.29), you won’t see this requirement.
You’ll need to look a few chapters earlier at General Requirements for Walking/Working Surfaces. Here’s the snippet for your convenience:
1910.22(d)
Inspection, maintenance, and repair. The employer must ensure:
1910.22(d)(1)
Walking-working surfaces are inspected, regularly and as necessary, and maintained in a safe condition;
1910.22(d)(2)
Hazardous conditions on walking-working surfaces are corrected or repaired before an employee uses the walking-working surface again. If the correction or repair cannot be made immediately, the hazard must be guarded to prevent employees from using the walking-working surface until the hazard is corrected or repaired; and
1910.22(d)(3)
When any correction or repair involves the structural integrity of the walking-working surface, a qualified person performs or supervises the correction or repair.
OSHA doesn’t use the phrase “fall hazard survey”. Instead, it clearly states that inspections should be done regularly. Any recognized fall hazards should be protected against or the associated walking/working surface should be blocked off.
A fall hazard survey is exactly this. Inspect and react to hazardous falling conditions.
Fall Hazard Surveys Protect People
I started with what was legally required, but this is the most important point. We have a moral obligation to keep workers safe.
People matter.
I’m sure you understand and agree with this. However, sometimes we need to be reminded that safety is about protecting people. Your employees are parents, children (regardless of age), and spouses. Lives are forever changed when we don’t provide safe working environments.
One reason we may overlook safety is because we don’t understand what’s at stake. It may be easy to dismiss the financial cost of providing a fully safe work environment because no one has ever gotten hurt doing X work. However, it just takes one time, one moment, for it all to go so wrong. When that happens, you don’t get to hit the reset button.
You've heard that it was said, what you don't know can kill you. In safety, what you don't know, can kill someone else.
Ignorance is not bliss. So, don't take unnecessary risks. Complete the fall hazard survey. Today. Your employees' lives depend on it.
Save Money with Fall Hazard Surveys
People are your most valuable asset.
Imagine that your 20-year veteran is changing a filter on an HVAC. He’s been at this a while and knows to be careful of that roof edge. However, he slips on the ballast of the roof and tumbles into an unprotected skylight.
In this scenario, it’s not a long fall. He survives and isn’t permanently injured, unlike so many others in this exact situation. He’s out for a couple of months healing.
Now, you need to pay for worker’s compensation, hospital bills, OSHA fines, and potential litigation. This liability doesn’t include the loss of experience. A 20-year veteran’s time is worth a lot more to the business than someone fresh to the job, regardless of the pay difference.
A proper fall hazard survey would have caught the skylight hazard and provided a solution to protect against it.
This is the difference between a couple of hundred dollars and tens to hundreds of thousands.
To quote a childhood hero, “Knowing is half the battle.”
When Should You Complete a Fall Hazard Survey?
A fall hazard survey should be completed before any walking/working surface is used for work. A new survey should be completed anytime a change is made to the work or walking/working surface. Common changes could be:
- The building was expanded, so now you have a new roof.
- New rooftop units are installed.
- You’ve installed solar, which is becoming more and more popular.
Whatever the reason, make sure that you update your fall hazard survey. You don’t have to wait for changes, either. Make sure that you double-check that the survey is still current. Maybe something changed on the roof and no one told you, either because they didn’t think it mattered or it slipped their mind.
After all, you can’t fix a problem if you don’t know it exists.
Wrapping Up
There you have it! Businesses are required to complete Fall Hazard Surveys.
OSHA requires it. Moral obligation requires it. Your future bank account wants you to require it.
Know that you don’t have to go it alone. We have a team of experts that can help you complete your survey. They don’t even have to come to your location to do that. Remote fall hazard surveys are made easier with technology, like satellite imagery. We are experts in fall protection, use that to your advantage.
If you’re ready or have additional questions about fall hazard surveys, then contact our experts. We’re here to help you keep your people safe.
