Falls from elevations

Workers should typically be equipped with hard hats and steeltoed shoes. Other personal protective equipment (such as safety glasses and hearing protection) is also necessary in appropriate circumstances. It is up to the employer to ensure that appropriate PPE is provided. 

Engineering of the jobsite is critical. Stairways or ladders are needed whenever the elevation changes by 19 inches or more. Two or more ladders are needed if there are 25 or more employees on the site. OSHA estimates there are as many as 36 fatalities per year due to falls 

Scaffolding is another critical area requiring special attention to protect workers from falls. There are many different types of scaffolds and each has its own requirements. Certain guidelines apply to all types. Among others, there must be  

These and other conditions are found in 1926 Subpart L—Scaffolds. 

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The owner and CEO of Successful Solutions LLC, Dr. John Hickory, decided to use the same group of five Synectors who had earlier successfully solved the problem of construction workers falling from elevations... 

Fall from elevation or grormd level to lower levels. 

Power line workers who construct/repair power transmission and distribution systems face a wide range of serious and potentially fatal injuries, including arc flashes, electrocutions, falls from elevations, and injuries from falling objects. Major causes of non-fatal injuries include overexertion, thermal burns, sprains and strains, cuts and lacerations, and contusions. 

In October, 1994, OSHA kicked off its Focused Inspections Initiative for construction sites. If an inspector comes calling and you have implemented effective safety and health programs/plans, then you coidd receive a focused inspection. A focused inspection concentrates on the fom leading causes of death at construction sites falls from elevation struck-by, hit-by caught in/between and electrical hazards. This toolbox talk will concentrate on one of those hazards, caught in/between hazards. 

According to NIOSH, falls from elevations are the fourth leading cause and account for 10% of occupational deaths. NIOSH studied 90 worker deaths from falls for a range of job settings, involving a variety of work equipment and conditions. The study offers recommendations for preventing such deaths. ... 

The toll of workplace injuries and illnesses continnes to harm our country. Six million workers in the United States are exposed to workplace hazards ranging from falls from elevations to exposures to lead. The hazards vary depending upon the type of industry (e.g., manufacturing) and the types of work being performed by workers (e.g., welding). 

FIGURE 25.9 Falls from elevated surfaces can be deadly. Source Courtesy of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.)... 

In 1999, slips, trips, and falls (STFs) occurred to over 1 million workers in the United States and 17,000 died as a result. It is estimated that 3.8 million disabling injuries occur each year in the workforce. About 15 percent if all accidents are STFs. The cost for a disabling injury is approximately 28,000. It appears that 17 percent (969) of deaths come from falls from elevations. 

Falls Falls from elevated areas of the rig (e.g., stabbing board, monkey board, ladder) falls from rig floor to grade... 

To define the problem associated with all types of falls, let s examine what falls are all about. None of us has a problem understanding what a fall from a high-rise construction project involves—it is simply a fall from elevation. In many workplaces, though, worker injuries result from types of falls other than those from elevations. Falls in the workplace also include slips, trips, and stair falls, as well as elevated falls. Slips and trips are falls on the same level. Stair falls are falls on one or more levels. Elevated falls are from one level to another. In the following sections, each of these types of falls is discussed in greater detail, but first we discuss the physical factors at work in causing a fall. Remember that safety officials must address and work to reduce or eliminate all types of falls. 

A. To prevent employee death and/or minimize employee injury resulting from falls from elevated work locations. 

BLS. (1984). Injuries Resulting from Falls from Elevation, Bulletin 2195. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington, DC. 

Unique hazards include those related to well pressimes, the cathead, rotary table, and drawworks. Hazards which are common to many industries (including oil and gas drilling and servicing) are falls from elevated platforms, slipping/tripping hazards, and lack of proper machine guarding. 

OSHA determined (based on several studies done in the 1970 s and 1980 s) that many accidents and fatalities were related to falls from elevation and struck-by or caught-in equipment. Other causes of accidents resulted from ... 

G. Guidelines. The following guidelines are established for the uniform enforcement of 29 CFR 1910.23(c)(1), exposures to falls from elevated surfaces. 1. Employee exposures to falls from platforms (interpreted in F.1.) are regulated by the following OSHA standards ... 

For example, in the construction industry there are four leading causes of construction-related deaths. They are falls (from elevation)— 33%, struck by (a vehicle, falling material, etc.)— 22%, caught-in/between (excavation collapse)—18%, shock (electrical)—17%, while all other types make up 10% of these deaths. At present Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) conducts focused inspections of construction worksites, where it looks specifically for these hazards or for the lack of controls for each of these four causes of construction deaths. 

Fall from elevation Contact with electrical voltage... 

Falls from elevations represented 6 percent of the total. 

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