Make An Informed Fall Protection Plan

Falls continue to appear at the top of OSHA’s top 10 most cited workplace violations. For many companies, engineered fall protection remains a mystery. What are the requirements? Who’s responsible for choosing a system? Who’s responsible for maintaining it? How do we know we chose the right solution? 

Gorbel, a leading manufacturer of engineered fall protection solutions, turned to several industry experts to help clarify some of these issues. The complete findings, plus potential solutions, can be found in the ebook, “Fall Arrest: Insights and Ideas for Workplace Compliance,” which is available for download at www.gorbel.com/righttrack. This article provides a summary of common issues, as well as solutions. 

Problem: Installing incomplete or inadequate fall protection.

Many businesses don’t fully understand fall protection requirements, and choose a system based on what’s the least expensive or the easiest to incorporate into their facility, meaning they often select a fall protection product that isn’t the best solution for their individual application. While any fall protection is probably better than no fall protection, inadequate or incomplete fall protection could potentially still expose them to risk. What Gorbel heard often from the experts was, “work doesn’t stop if you don’t have a fall protection system.” Translation: it’s not a top priority. The problem with that mindset? Increased potential for catastrophic risk to your workers and your business.

Solution: Choose a system designed specifically for your application.

The experts all advise going with a fall arrest anchorage system that is engineered specifically for your application. Whether your application is maintenance, production, unloading or reloading, engineered fall protection solutions can offer the safest and most productive solution for your application. Reach out to a company that specializes in fall protection solutions. They can evaluate your application and your environment and recommend a solution that meets OSHA requirements, fits your budget, and doesn’t interfere with your productivity.