National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction – 05/03/2021
Safety E-QuickTips
U.S. Compliance Systems, Inc.
Monday May 3, 2021
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| 2021 National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in ConstructionThis week (May 3-7, 2021) you can participate in the National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction. OSHA’s Safety Stand-Down is a voluntary event where employers can talk directly to employees about safety with a specific focus on fall hazards and fall prevention.In recognition of this important event, we are offering our Fall Protection in Construction online training course for FREE this week. If you’d like to sign-up your employees* for this online training course, you can either login to your Client Center (if you’re already a client) or sign-up to try the Online Training System for free (no credit card required for sign-up and no additional purchases necessary). |
| This week I’d like to share an old story about the importance of fall protection. |
| Years ago I was teaching a safety class with about 50 roofers in attendance and we were on the subject of OSHA’s 6′ Fall Protection regulation. The roofers felt that it was unreasonable for OSHA to require fall protection at 6′.So, I asked how many roofs they had worked on that were only 6′ off the ground. One man replied, “I don’t even remember the last roof that was only 6′ high.” As others responded we discovered that out of 50 workers, there were only a few who could remember working only 6′ above a lower level.As the debate regarding the 6′ issue came to a close another issue arose.One gentleman said that they (the roofers) knew how to protect themselves when they were working on roofs. They didn’t need OSHA’s input. So I asked how many in the class had fallen off a roof. The response even surprised me. . . |
| More than half of the roofers raised their hands. What surprised me more than the number of roofers who had fallen was that these same men were nodding their heads in agreement that they knew how to protect themselves from falls when working on a roof.If that wasn’t enough, one of the men pointed to one of the roofers and said, “Ask _____ over there how it feels to fall 15′ from a roof.” The roofer he pointed to was on crutches. He had broken his leg, had a pin in his leg, and would be off work for another 8 to 10 weeks because of the fall from the roof.At that point I said, “I rest my case.” |
Employee QuickTip
Fall protection saves lives and it could save yours.If your company participates in the National Fall Protection Stand Down, please pay attention, your life may depend on it.It your company is not able to participate, remember to always use some form of fall protection when working on a walking working level that is 6’ above another.
Employer/Management QuickTip
Anyone can participate in the National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction. You can participate in a number of ways: have a toolbox talk, conduct safety equipment inspections, etc. Our Fall Protection in Construction online training course (FREE this week only!) is another way to participate in this event.
If you’d like to sign-up your employees* for this online training course, you can either login to your Client Center (if you’re already a client) or sign-up to try the Online Training System (no credit card required for sign-up and no additional purchases necessary).
Have you received your first Safety E-QuickTip or just want to look at 500+ past issues? Check out our Safety E-QuickTips Archive Page on our website.
If you know of someone or a company that might benefit from receiving Safety E-QuickTips, please take a moment to share this with them so they can sign-up today.
Thanks for Reading and Please – Stay Healthy and Work Safe.
