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10 Safety Tips for Working at

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Heights (in 2019 and Beyond)

Whether you work at heights every day or just once in a while, your safety
focus during those times is of utmost importance. It takes one mistake to
turn a routine work task into a fatality. Falls are debilitating. Falls are deadly.
 You must be prepared to protect your employees each and every time they
could be exposed.

What is Working at Height?

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Working at height refers to any work that is above ground or below ground in
which a person could fall and injure themselves if no precautions are taken.
You could fall off a ladder, off a roof's edge, or through an opening on the
oor. In the general industry, fall protection is required at 4 feet above a
lower level. Here are ten safety tips to consider if your employees work at
heights.

1. Use Railing
When you can, use railing. Passive protection is the easiest way to keep your
workers safe in order to achieve compliance because there is nothing that
they need to actually do to keep themselves safe (other than stay within the
rails…and if your employees are climbing outside of protective rails, you’ve
got bigger problems to address!). There are railing system for almost every
style of rooftop like non-penetrating railing for at or low-slope roofs, parapet
mounted railing, metal roof railing, and more. Pre-fabricated railings can be
permanently a xed or portable to suit your needs. Regardless of which type
you use, once in place, you’ll nd rails to be the easiest fall protection system
to use.

2. Select the Proper PPE

 If you’re going to use Personal Fall Arrest Systems (PFAS), you need to
ensure you’re choosing the proper equipment. All full-body harnesses that
meet ANSI standards will perform the same, despite their cost, however, that
price differential is getting you something. Sure, sometimes it’s just a name,
but other times, it’s functionality that you’re getting or sacri cing, such as
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extra D-rings, reproof material or arc-safe design. Sometimes, a more
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expensive harness is more expensive simply because it’s been made to be

more comfortable.

Do your research and decide what you really need. If you have workers
welding at heights, then a standard nylon harness is probably not going to be
what you need. Perhaps Kevlar is the way to go. And, don’t forget your
workforce. Perhaps comfort isn’t your main concern (though it’s certainly
much easier to get cooperation from your workers if they are comfortable
wearing the equipment), but that’s not the only consideration you need to
make. Harnesses are not one-size- ts-all. Make sure your workers can
properly adjust their harnesses so that they t correctly.

Lanyards need to be properly selected as well. Depending on the height at

which you are working, a 6’ lanyard with a deceleration device will not protect
your worker. Instead, a retractable lanyard may be necessary. Each situation
is different, so you need to evaluate your working conditions and the task to
be performed in order to give your employees something that will actually
protect them.
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3. Inspect Your PPE

Employees can use all the equipment they want, if they’re not inspecting it, it
could fail anytime. When it comes to harnesses and lanyards, while they
need to be periodically inspected by a Competent Person (one with the
knowledge to recognize the hazard AND the authority to correct it), they
should also be inspected by the user prior to every use. In order for this to
happen, your users need to understand what they’re looking for, what is
acceptable and what is not, and what to do when they nd a problem. The
inspection should be thorough, but does not need to take a lot of time. Even
so, this brief pre-work check could save a life.

4. Ensure You Understand Fall Distance

You can wear all the fall protection equipment in the world, but if it allows
you to hit the lower level before it engages, it’s pointless. This may sound like
a "common sense" statement, but you’d be surprised at how many people
don’t seem to have “common sense”. It is not unusual to go onto a
 construction site or observe a maintenance crew in a plant and see a worker
at 10-12’ off the ground wearing a 6’ lanyard with a deceleration device.
While at rst glance you might think that it should work, there are a number
of reasons why it won’t. First, you have to add 3.5’ of distance to account for
the deployment of your deceleration device. Already that means the lanyard
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itself is 9.5’ long. Unless you are a 6” tall person, this is some pretty bad
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news. Your actual fall distance needs not only include the length of your
lanyard when deployed, but also your body length below the D-ring and any
sag in your harness and anchor system. Count on a good 18.5’ minimum
before you’re able to use a 6’ lanyard with deceleration device.

5. Ensure the Selection of Acceptable

Anchor Point
As Grandpa said in The Lost Boys, "We’ve got rules!" Sure, he was referring to
drinking his root beer and not peeling the label back on the TV Guide, but he
might as well have been talking about anchor points. If you were to pick a
construction site at random right now and see what they’re using as anchor
points, you might assume there were no rules. PVC pipe? Not an anchor.
Decorative steel? Not an anchor.

In fact, many more things will NOT be an acceptable anchor point than WILL
be an acceptable anchor point. Why? Because the anchor point must
support not only the weight of the person attached but 5000 lbs. per person
attached (or a factor of 2 if you’re having an engineer to determine your
anchor). Many xtures are not going to withstand those forces. Structural
 steel using a proper beam clamp? Sure. A manufactured roo ng cart or other
manufactured anchor? Sure, if installed properly.

To see an example of a compliant, and easy to install anchor point take a

look at the Weightanka deadweight anchor. Short of that, you’re going to
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need some documentation and/or an engineer’s approval to use something
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as an anchor point.

6. Ensure You Select the Best Means of

Working at Heights (Scaffold vs Lift vs
Ladder)
Just as harnesses are not one-size- ts-all, neither are fall protection
solutions. In some situations, a scaffold is going to be your best solution to
work at heights. If so, you’ll probably be able to equip them with rails, making
your fall protection much easier to address. Other times, scaffolds will be
infeasible and you’ll nd yourself on a lift. Depending on the type of lift, you
may or may not need to wear a harness and a lanyard (and properly tie off).
Still other times, you’ll need to use a ladder, at which point the requirements
for fall protection become trickier. In the end, thinking that a ladder is going
to su ce no matter what situation you’re in (or a lift, or a scaffold, or any
other means of elevation) is only asking for problems. Evaluate your
situation carefully and determine the right piece of equipment suitable for
the task in that location.

7. Use Ladders Properly

 Don’t just assume because you have a ladder at home, you know what you’re
doing. In fact, the safest way to live on this planet is to always assume you
don’t know what you’re doing. In most cases, you’re going to be right!
Ladders lie at the source of many industrial and workplace accidents simply
because we take their use for granted. Ladders are familiar. You use them to
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hang your Christmas lights, paint the living room, change that annoying hard
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to reach high-hat bulb, and clean your gutters. We use them so often that we
must know what we’re doing because we’ve never gotten hurt before!

Ladders are dangerous. When improperly used, they’re REALLY dangerous.

First, make sure that ladders are the best way to do what you’re doing, then
make sure your employees know how to properly use them. 3’ extension, 4:1
ratio, 3 points of contact, and secured. If you don’t know what that refers to,
you may not know how to use an extension ladder properly. You know that
sticker on a step ladder that says, "Don’t stand on this step or above."? If you
think that means you can step there but no higher, you might not know how
to use a step-ladder. Provide your employees with proper training so that
they use the tools they are being given the right way.

Also, if you are going to be using a xed ladder, make sure that it is protected
by a ladder safety gate or an offset. Chains are no longer compliant and
need to be replaced with one of the aforementioned solutions.

8. Know Your Roo ng Regulations

Roo ng regulations are some of the most misunderstood requirements. Not
only do roofers not know exactly what is required of them most of the time,
but many other contractors working on roofs who are not roofers believe that
 certain methods of fall protection are available to them when, in reality,
they’re not. Warning lines at 6’ with a monitor are only allowed for roofers
performing roo ng work (and 10’ back from the edge if there is mechanical
equipment traveling in that direction). Notice the phrase "with a monitor" in
the previous statement. There is NO situation in which a warning line is an
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acceptable means of fall protection that does not also include a dedicated
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monitor being present. There are a few that allow for a monitor with no
warning line (low-slope roofs less than 50’ in width for instance), but none
that allow a warning line with no monitor. Also, notice the phrase “dedicated
monitor” in that previous statement. Monitors must not have duties that
would distract them from performing as a monitor. You see where I’m going
with this? There are many nuances to the rules for roofers. If you are one,
make sure you are familiar with the regulations and your requirements or
speak to somebody who is.

9. Ensure Proper Use of Lifts

There are many ways in which a lift operator can do something wrong, so I
won’t get into the actual operation of lifts here, but we do need to discuss fall
protection in regards to lifts. One thing that gets missed quite often is that
any person in a boom lift, at any time, at any height, must be properly tied-
off. "Properly tied-off" not only means that they need to be secured to the
engineered anchor point designed with the lift, but it means that they can’t
wrap their lanyard around the rails and they need to have a lanyard that is
actually going to protect them at the height at which they are working (see
fall distance above). With scissor lifts, things are a little different. While the
site you are working on or the owner of the facility/project may require you to
tie-off in a scissor lift, there is no regulatory requirement to do so. However,
 the moment you forget to close your gate or secure your chain, you are no
longer protected by the rails and are now in a fall protection violation. It’s
that simple. Also, keep your feet planted rmly on the platform. Both of
them.

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10. Train, Train, Train
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It’s been mentioned in various paragraphs above, but it can’t be stressed

enough. If you want your employees to work safely at heights, they must be
properly trained. Period. The end. Not only is training required by law, but
there is also just too much room for error and confusion when it comes to a
person without the proper knowledge trying to protect themselves at heights.
Falls are the leading killer in construction year after year. Many people in
other industries die from falls as well, so they are very deadly. Most of the
time, there are no do-overs. Arm your employees with the knowledge they
need to keep themselves safe.

Working safely at heights does not come by chance. It is not something you
luck your way into. Working safely at heights takes preparation, education,
and determination. When it comes to fall protection, you can’t have too much
information.

SAFETY BLOG BEST PRACTICES FALL PROTECTION

About the author

John Braun has been in the EHS eld for more than 16 years. He achieved his CHST
in 2005 and his CSP in 2010. Though he focuses on construction, his background
 includes manufacturing, recycling, and warehousing
facilities as well. John holds a Bachelor's degree in
English from The College of NJ.

Website: http://www.signaturesafety.net

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