Fall Safety For Your Workers – 8 Essential Employer Responsibilities

Did you know that nearly 400 people in the construction industry alone die each year due to injuries caused by falls? Not only that, but these accidents also cause many other serious injuries including incapacitation, broken bones and fractures, and long-term medical complications such as brain and spinal cord trauma.

As the manager of your facility, it’s your job (and OSHA-enforced responsibility) to protect employees’ well being while working from heights. While worker safety should always be the number one priority, the financial impact to the business also has great potential for damage.

A significant number of missed workdays and lofty workers’ compensation claims due to injuries resulting from falls could put the future of your business at risk.

While the thought of implementing a comprehensive fall protection plan for your facility may seem daunting to take on and expensive to roll out, it is imperative to the health of both your employees and your business.

Working with the right provider will ensure you have the proper safety equipment installed – but there are a number of things to begin working on today in your efforts towards enforcing a fully realized fall protection program.

The following are eight essential responsibilities you should uphold in the workplace:

1. Provide adequate and timely resources necessary to support a well-managed program.
2. Appoint a program administrator who has the knowledge, experience, training and authority necessary to direct, manage and evaluate the program.
3. Identify and document all fall hazards and eliminate or control every existing or new hazard in your employees’ workplace environment.
4. Develop and maintain written fall protection and rescue procedures for every location where an active fall arrest system is used.
5. Inform each authorized person about any foreseeable hazards before the authorized person is exposed to the risk.
6. Provide continuous inspections and improvements to your equipment.
7. Implement an ongoing training program that imparts the knowledge necessary to operate any active fall arrest system.
8. Assign competent managers to supervise all workers who are exposed to hazards.

Every fall-related injury is 100% preventable. However, installing the right equipment is only the start to truly protecting your workers from serious injuries or even death.

A proper fall protection plan is the foundation of the company’s safety efforts. Implementing an overall program – including easily accessible resources, knowledgeable supervisors, well-documented procedures and ongoing safety training and equipment inspections – is the key to keeping your workers safe while working at height.

Implementing the plan is not an expense, it is an investment. With a comprehensive program, you get the peace of mind that comes from knowing you’ve done what’s necessary to eliminate serious risks to your workers and your business.

Ready to learn more about implementing a comprehensive program for your job site or facility? Click on the button below to speak with one of our experts.