Toolbox Talks

Falls from height are still a primary killer when it comes to workplace fatalities. A business with a Safety First mindset will perform a hazard assessment in every area of their business, and the rooftop is no exception. Read through to explore best practices when it comes to rooftop safety audits.

One of the most neglected aspects of Fall Protection is the rescue and retrieval plan.  Sure, you've selected your harnesses and lanyards, debated the feasibility of railings, and calculated your fall distance, but what do you intend to do once the worker has fallen?  While the worker is...

Falling while working at height represents the leading cause of death and injury in both construction and general industry. Experience has shown us that people seem to be making the same fundamental mistakes while managing work at height. We will share our observations in an effort to develop...

If somebody was walking on a construction site and saw a large hole in the roof with nothing around it, they would immediately recognize this as unsafe. It is an opening that leads you to a 30’ drop onto a hard surface.

Calculating fall clearance is not as simple as some may lead you to believe. If done incorrectly, anyone who uses the system could be at risk of severe injury or death.

Having a basic understanding of how to calculate fall clearance will help you know when to hire a qualified person and when...

Despite efforts to reduce falls, they still remain the number one killer in construction.  They also account for approximately 12% of fatal occupational injuries across all industries (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cfoi.t01.htm). We educate, inspect, and discipline, yet falls continue to...

This is the million dollar question, isn’t it?  For years, many of us in the industry watched as prizes were awarded to workers based on safety performance.  Sometimes this meant a group lunch or a t-shirt, but other times it was something as big as a truck or boat being given away.  This...

"It was just a freak accident."

"There was no way we could have seen that coming!

If you haven’t heard something like this, spend a little time doing incident investigation in an occupational setting.  Trust me, it won’t take long.  Statements like these perpetuate the belief that accidents...

It seems in life sometimes that getting a job is all about who you know, but regardless of whether or not that is actually the case, once you have a job, there is no doubt that keeping it depends on what you know.  In only the rarest of situations is an employer going to continue to pay...

Whenever I deliver a training class to a group of workers for whom I’m also serving as a safety consultant, I explain that there are two things I need to do: 1) Keep them safe and 2) Keep the company compliant.

Perhaps you decided to read this because you thought, "Of course not!  Everyone knows that is a crazy dangerous, not to mention non-productive." However, studies show that walking and texting are pretty much akin to walking blindfolded.

Researchers at Stony...

A safety professional may read the title of this article and feel it’s child’s play. How could somebody not know how to look for risk? That same safety professional may even be tempted to use a phrase that I cannot stand: common sense. I once heard a speaker explain that common...

Not all safety harnesses are created equal.

It is easy to think that because a harness has ANSI stamped on it that it will be safe and compliant with OSHA. That is not necessarily the case. How do we assure that the harness we purchase is currently designed to hold my weight and body...

Let’s be honest: not everybody has the personality to be a trainer. It’s easy to hand somebody some information and say, “Here, go teach this to your workers.” They might be able to rattle off that information to their audience, but can they do it in such a way that their...

It's that time of year again, when many parts of the country devolve into a frozen, bone-chilling wasteland that sends many of us scrambling to our warm fireplaces, layers of fleece, and mugs of hot (sometimes spiked) beverages. Even parts of the country not usually known for their cold...

Complex fall protection situations arise all the time. Workers find themselves in scenarios where they need to have fall protection and a personal fall arrest system (PFAS) seems to be the only solution available, yet there is no suitable anchor point. This always comes up at the last minute;...

The recent accident in Westwood, MA regarding the fall of a worker clearing snow from the roof of a business, underscores just how dangerous this job can be.  In this particular instance, the worker fell through a skylight and landed on the ground 25’ below. In light of the situation,...

If you’ve been a safety professional for any amount of time, you could probably write a book based on the excuses you’ve heard regarding why a worker or a company failed to adhere to safety rules and regulations. The excuses range from ignorant to absurd – from entertaining to...

The headline out of Jacksonville, FL reads, “OSHA: Roofing worker’s death ‘preventable’”.  As an EHS professional, I feel like I should be able to come up with a better retort then, “Well, duh,” but it seems to be awfully appropriate here.  Preventable incidents – preventable deaths –...

As safety professionals, our focus needs to be on prevention: proactivity keeps workers from being hurt in the first place.  In recent years, with incentive programs under fire, there has been a push for companies to focus on leading indicators (such as safety meetings attended, near misses...

For many years now, falls have been the leading cause of death on construction sites.  From small residential projects to large commercial structures, people continue to add to the fatal fall statistic – regardless of the focus placed on this epidemic.  Sometimes this is the result of a...

Fear of falling is natural.  Once believed to occur only as a result of a traumatic experience, it has more recently become considered a condition you are born with.  Most people fear falling because – well – gravity.  We can’t fly.  We don’t bounce.  We fall, we land – sometimes...

Homeowners and building managers cannot be expected to be experts in every area of maintenance and repairs that need to be performed on their building.  Day in and day out, contractors around the country are hired to perform such work because they are the experts.  Some of this work takes...

I’ve been in many warehouses.  Many, many warehouses.  The difference in safety culture from one to the next is as varied as the products they store.  Some are in pristine, new buildings with clear lines painted on the floor, have only safe, certified forklift operators driving the...

Heat waves and extensive exposure to the sun can be dangerous. People are not necessarily aware of the dangers of heat because the symptoms can "sneak up on you". Heatstroke is a life-threatening condition that can cause death or extensive damage to your internal organs.

I was personally told...

The following information is a general overview of major points and standards developed from OSHA 29 CFR Part 1910, Subpart D. Walking and Working Surfaces for General Industry.

Key Terms:

When employees are exposed to heights over 6 feet above lower levels, they shall be protected from falling by guardrail systems, safety net systems, or personal fall arrest systems. The following Heroic Safety Huddle defines the details and specific regulations pertaining to these protection...

WorkSafely, a web site that is dedicated to workplace safety resources, has several videos that are available.  The videos themselves take on a PSA style and offer a short bit of awareness about safety in the workplace.

Click here to see the video library.

Inhalation is the most common route of exposure for employees to most toxic materials in the workplace.  Selecting and utilizing the appropriate respirator can be quite confusing and difficult.  Employers and employees must get a firm understanding of respirator basic knowledge in order to...

Workers who spend a great deal of their time working along roadways are in constant danger from moving traffic and equipment. Employers must realize that there are federal standards that require employees to wear high visibility clothing. As of November 24, 2008, the federal government...

Hand Protection PPE

The selection of appropriate hand PPE is a very important part of workplace safety.  Safety gloves are offered in many different types of protective materials.  Always complete a hazard analysis before selecting PPE.

A concrete filter was being replaced by a four-man crew at a car wash construction site. Two employees then entered a 9' deep, 14' long, and 6' wide trench to hand grade the bottom after the small tank had been removed. The trench had vertical faces which were not shored or sloped and had...

On October 4, 2005, an employee was working as a refrigeration mechanic. An ammonia system valve in freezer Number 7 was being turned, when the bonnet came loose with the wheel, releasing approximately 100 to 200 lbs of ammonia. He was not wearing protective gloves. The employee was 35 feet...

An emergency action plan (EAP) should address emergencies that the employer may reasonably expect in the workplace.  Some examples include: fires; hazardous materials spills; tornadoes; floods; and others.  The following text identifies the main components...

The following safety huddle lists the OSHA standards that regulate and define the specifications for warning line systems in construction fall protection. Refer to 29 CFR 1926.502(f) for more details. Remember, workplace safety is everyeverybody's responsibility.

Definition: warning line...

The following safety huddle topic is an overview of OSHA personal protective equipment for the construction industry. All information has been extracted from OSHA 29 CFR Part 1926, Subpart E. This information is for informational purposes only. Employers should always create a written policy...

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...

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...

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...

Employee safety should be a top priority in any company. Apart from the obvious heartache associated with worker deaths and injuries, workers who are injured on the job could sue the company for financial damages. They may also be less productive when they do return to work. Therefore, it...

Workplace safety is not just important because of legal and liability reasons, but having healthy and happy workers should be a top priority for an employer. Below are some ways to be a great safety leader in your workplace.

Safety is a big issue on construction sites. The ways in which serious accidents can occur are countless, thanks to the nature of construction. Federal OSHA’s statistics show that of the roughly 4,600 fatal work-related accidents in the U.S. in 2011, the most recent year for which data...

When it comes to safety, it may seem like a no-brainer that those who have OSHA to guide them would not become complacent. However, for those who work in the construction or warehousing fields, it does not work like that.

Workers need regular reminders about safety so that accidents do...

There are many reasons why people should wear fall protection, yet countless workers still avoid wearing fall safety equipment. These same workers will blame the employer or the equipment and always look for every reason or excuse for not wearing it. The fact of the matter is that this

Nothing could be worse in safety than a false sense of security. Somebody who believes they are protected by a certain piece of equipment might take more chances – even unknowingly – than they would if they believed they had no protection at all.  Yet, we see it every day:  an unsecure...

I recently wrote an article detailing how to ensure you are using your fall protection equipment properly.  If you are the inquisitive type, it may have left you asking the question, “How, exactly, does a safety harness work?”  In reality, there is a fairly simple answer to this question:...