All falls are bad, but falls that happen on the job can be even worse. From keeping you away from work to causing debilitating injury or death, work accidents can be life changing. For this reason, the one of the agencies in the U.S. Department of Labor works to ensure that employers do everything within their power to make sure that their workers are safe. Through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines are published and companies are directed what they should be doing to keep their employees safe.
With the proper safety supplies like wire rope slings and other kinds of rigging supplies, work places can make sure that their employees are as safe as possible.
- Any anchor system must support 5,000 pounds for a one individual single tie-off point.
- OSHA requires that the testing of all fall arrest systems must include a test weight of 300 pounds, or within a five pound variance, should be used.
- OSHA also requires that fall protection be provided at elevations of four feet in workplaces of general industry; five feet in shipyards, six feet on industry construction sites; and eight feet in all longshore operations.
- The three step process in all fall protections systems outlined by OSHA are plan, provide, and train.
- Perhaps because of the implementation of more stringent OSHA requirements, worker injuries and illnesses are down. In fact, after 10.9 incidents per 100 workers in 1972 the number has dropped to 3.4 per 100 workers in 2011.
- OSHA requirements indicate that lings should be inspected once a year with normal service use, and once a month or once a quarter for more severe service use.
Keeping workers safe needs to be the priority of all employers. By adhering to all of the OSHA standards and required training sessions employers have a better chance of making sure that they are keeping their workplaces safe and employers healthy.
The benefits of a safe work place are improved work situations where workers are more productive. Employers who install detailed plans for safety training will reap the benefits in the long run and will have workers who have fewer absences and work toward the goals of zero accident work sites.
