There’s no denying it; abiding by the OSHA regulations and keeping your company compliant is the first step towards upholding your employees’ safety. But that’s just the beginning. When dealing with fall protection, the most dangerous workplace-related risk, there’s a need to provide more solidified safety measures for various hazardous areas.
This guide digs deeper into OSHA fall protection, why it’s necessary, plus ways of providing added safety measures for the workplace hazards. Let’s get down to business.
OSHA Regulations Detailing Fall Protection
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) stipulates a set of standards that companies must adhere to. And non-compliance attracts stringent legal implications. The minimum requirements are as follows:
- Providing all fall protection and prevention equipment to your employees at zero cost
- Keeping the working environment free of any danger
- Offering comprehensive training on job hazards in a language your employees understand
OSHA also directs employers to do the following to protect employees from getting injured from falls at the workplace:
- Cover every floor hole (using a floor hole cover or a rail and toe board) that an employee can accidentally walk into and get injured.
- If the chances are that any employee (regardless of height) can fall onto/into factory or warehouse equipment or dangerous machinery, employers must block them off with guardrails or toe-boards
- Provide any other fall protection means and materials like safety nets, guardrails and safety gates, and fall protection harnesses at elevations of four feet and above in general industry
- Install fall arrest or ladder safety systems on newly installed ladders of over 24-feet and replacement ladders/ladder sections, including those stationed on outdoor structures.
- For loading dock safety, paint the leading edges for proper visibility and instruct employees to maintain a safe distance
Going ABOVE and Beyond the Bare Minimums: Ways of Providing Added Safety Measures
As we mentioned, OSHA fall protection regulations are just the starting point. Adding extra safety measures is a smart choice, primarily if you operate in a high-risk environment like a construction site or gas mining/processing plant.
Below are a few ways of going over and beyond OSHA requirements and readying your company for the toughest incidences:
Documenting a Formal Safety Program
Besides the standard OSHA regulations, you also need to develop company-specific safety requirements and document them in a formal safety program. For starters, clearly define “safety” and what it implies explicitly to your company.
You want to include specific details like how to shut down machines, when to use personal fall arrest systems, where to stand while operating equipment, and the return-to-work formula after an incident. Ensure that the custom program requirements blend with your company’s present operations and are up to date with the ever-changing compliance standards. You also want to keep the instructions straightforward and easy for employees to understand.
Leveraging Technical Expertise
Ensure that your organization has a point person with an in-depth understanding of the OSHA standards. The person should be able to steer expectations, i.e., they should have the authority to change or adapt your internal safety practices as and when needed. This could be a third-party administrator, independent broker, safety facility manager, facility manager, COO, or CEO.
Investing in Education
The best way to reinforce the company’s safety standards is to invest in training the supervisors and employees. It’s critical to train these managers on why the company needs a specific program, what the law dictates regarding the implementation of that program, the exposures and current changes in the work environment, etc.
On the other hand, training the employees helps them understand the impact the implemented program will have on their work. Ensure the training is in a fashion that employees understand by eliminating all language barriers and leveraging technologies like web-based and audio-visual interactions. This will bring the young, tech-savvy workforce on-board. But don’t forget to make the training more understandable to older employees who may not be familiar or comfortable with those new technologies.
Training should include:
- Where fall hazards exist within your facility
- How to inspect, don, and use fall protection harnesses
- How to operate industrial swing gates, ladder guards, and other access control devices
- Best practices for loading dock safety, mezzanines, and other at-risk areas
- How to recognize wear and tear on PPE as well as passive fall protection
- What to do should an incident occur
Normalizing Accountability
Some employees may be challenging to deal with without a clear-cut avenue for accountability. You need to establish proper enforcement measures with well-defined roles and responsibilities. You can make employees more accountable by introducing performance measurements and metrics, conducting on-site inspections, rolling out punitive actions for those not following safety measures, and more.
Equally, recognizing and rewarding those that strictly follow fall protection practices is an excellent accountability mechanism and a motivation to other employees.
Here are a few more means of exceeding OSHA’s bare minimums:
- Having a facility for emergency equipment and keeping it stocked at all times
- Keeping a record of employee emergency contact information and updating it regularly
- Developing an emergency notification system where employees can reach out to first responders and respond to various scenarios
- Migrating from the old-school binder storage to cloud-based document filing for keeping track of incidents
- Installing fall protection products like handrails and industrial swing gates where necessary
Why is it Critical to Provide Added Safety Measures at the workplace?
- Employees are any company’s most valuable assets, and the need to protect them should be paramount. Solidifying the already existing safety measures with add-ons is a smart way to do it.
- Workers’ compensation insurance claims due to workplace injuries are detrimental to the company’s ultimate cost reduction and profit optimization goals. So why take a risk when you can prevent them by implementing top-class safety measures?
- Work environment safety is directly proportional to productivity. When employees feel safe, their productivity increases accordingly – no more workplace stress. Likewise, less chance of costly downtime should an incident occur.
- Properly managed safety programs also help companies and businesses attract and retain more customers and top workplace talent.
Whether it’s the floor, machine, or loading dock safety, complying with the bare minimum assures both the employees and OSHA that you have what it takes to respond to any emergency. But just meeting the OSHA fall protection standards isn’t always enough. There’s a need to heighten the safety measures by leveraging technical expertise, investing in training, inculcating accountability, and more to keep your company running smoothly.
At Fabenco, we’ve been synonymous with workplace safety since 1972 – and we know a thing or two about going above and beyond standard safety protocols. Whether you’re ready to install industrial swing gates, fall protection harnesses, and other safety equipment in your facility, or you just have questions about your safety options, contact us today. Our safety specialists are ready to assist you.
