OSHA Fall Protection Guidelines – How To Safeguard Your Construction Company’s Interests

Construction companies across the country have to follow many rules and regulations to ensure that proper measures are taken to deliver to the accepted standards of the industry. These regulations also cover issues that have to address on internal front for the company – safety of the employees and workers at the project site. Most construction sites usually require workers to operate on the heighted surfaces, which is a dangerous situation to be dealing with. Even the slightest of mistakes can cause accidents that might end up being fatal. This is the reason why the US government has laid down strict guidelines to follow so that construction companies can ensure a safe and secure working environment for their employees. The OSHA Fall Protection Guidelines are a part of the same system.

The OSHA fall protection system mandates that construction companies across US ensure that certain measures are always in place on their project sites for the safety of their workers. These measures include:

• Every construction work that requires working at a height of more than six feet should have these safety measures in place in order to adhere to OSHA guidelines.
• The first of these measures is erection of guardrails. The rails should be placed at a height of 42 inches from the ground and should also have a mid rail placed at its central position. If the construction company so requires, they can replace the mid rail with screens or meshes but these have to be extended up till the ground level as well.
• Individual fall arrest devices like harnesses, lanyards, lifelines, which are capable of supporting minimum weight of 5000 pounds should be used to aid fall prevention.
• Connector and anchors should also be installed with the same weight bearing capacity so that the harnesses worn by workers while they operate at the project site can be fixed to a safe position. These tools should also adhere to

OSHA fall protection and quality standards.

• Safety devices used for positioning the workers vertically at higher elevation should include body belts and rigged harnesses. These should be positioned to be used by the worker which allows him to keep both his hands free while being placed vertically.
• OSHA fall protection guidelines also necessitate that the workplace should be continuously monitored by an experienced overseer who can guide and direct the workers on the best and safest ways to conduct their operations.
• Safety netting systems should be put up as close to the working area as possible and at sensitive locations where it is required.
• For working on roofs, warning lines should be installed to ensure that workers stay away from the elevated edges of the building. This will prevent any untoward accidents from occurring.
• OSHA fall protection guidelines also require that construction companies deploy proper measures to safeguard workers against falling objects and debris that are also a common workplace hazard.

In case you want to learn more about OSHA fall protection, visit Caisafety.com.

About The Author

Brent Owens is a safety expert who works hand in hand with many construction companies across the country to ensure that employees are always protected while at work. He recommends CAISafety.com as the best name to trust for high quality fall protection systems.