ANSI ASSE Z359 Standards of 2007 and 2009; Attempting to Help Reduce Fatal Fall Accidents

Since around 1994 until now, all workplace fatalities have decreased about 12%. This number includes fatalities due to falls. Sounds good right? Work is getting safer, right?

WRONG! In the same time period, fatalities due to FALLS HAVE INCREASED ABOUT 30%. In the USA about 750 people die in fatal

Fall Protection Violations Are Up and 2nd in top 10 Violations in 2009 So Far!

A preliminary report issued by the National Safety Council shows 6,771 Fall Protection Violations in 2009 so far (as of October) and up about 30% since 2008.

The report does not tally the dollar figure for the violations cited by OSHA, nor the litigation or settlement costs of any fall accidents for the same time period.

See the report here:
http://www.nsc.org/Pages/OSHAReportsonTop10SafetyViolationsfor2009.aspx

What is a Personal Fall Arrest System?

Confused about what is a personal fall arrest system (PFAS) and more importantly, the rules for anchorage of PFAS?

OSHA defines a PFAS in at least three separate documents:

Fall Statistics

The source of this information is OSHA, the Department of Labor (DOL), or the Center for Disease Control (CDC):

• 14% of all fall accidents are fatal.
• Since 1992 serious injuries and fatalities due to falls have been on the rise in spite of new regulations and better operations and practices.
• In 2006 there were 809 fall accident fatalities in the USA; from roofs, unprotected walks, ladders, scaffolding, staging, etc.
• Surprisingly, the distribution of falls of various heights from 6' to over 100' is roughly evenly spread out. Fatalities from falls of under 6' are rare. Falls to hard surfaces tend to be more fatal (abrupt deceleration causes severe unjuries, head injuries substantial).
• Falls cost businesses over $170B a year in medical, wages, lower productivity, lower morale and other negative impacts.
• The actual number of non-fatal fall accidents is unknown, as not all are reported.
• The costs of litigation and settlements is unknown.
• The costs of OSHA citations can be quite substantial.

OSHA Annual Inspection - Don't Forget to Inspect *AND* Keep Records!

Don't forget your OSHA Annual Inspections of your roof anchors and engineered fall protection systems and window cleaning equipment - a competent person (qualified person) shall inspect roof anchors, davits, horizontal lifelines and other permanently installed fall protection and prevention and window cleaning equipment on buildings each and every year.

See our post about the OSHA requirements per the ANSI/IWCA I-14.1 from August 2008. See also the OSHA code 1910.66 at http://www.osha.gov/, regarding inspecting. And,

Florida Roofing Firm Fined $54,100 for 9 Violations

OSHA cited a Pompano, FL roofing company with 9 violations and $54,100 in fines 6 months after a worker fell 30 feet to his death., because this worker had no fall protection and also because the roofing company continued to expose workers to the very same hazard!

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/sfl-bn-0311roofer,0,3202455.story

Engineered Fall Prevention System

In this photo clearly visible, certified anchors are being used for three purposes, as follows:

1) The first purpose is to

Fall Protection is the 3rd Most Cited Issue per OSHA

For 2008 there were nearly 5,000 violations of "Fall Protection" discovered by OSHA. They are getting serious about saving lives, and consequently, about writing citations and issuing fines. Numerous citations have been over $100,000. The cost of prevention and having the proper equipment is significantly less - do you want to play safety roulette?

Powered Platform Accident in Texas Closes Streets

Photo by MyFox News Dallas, TX

Thursday, November 13, 2008 this powered platform fell 45 feet, breaking glass windows and damaging property before coming to rest 46 floors above the streets below. Broken glass fell and fortunately no one was injured. The workers were rescued.

ZERO TOLERANCE!

Canada appears to be stepping up its efforts to prevent fatalities from falls. Recently companies have been fined quite severely in Canada for accidents and for infractions of safety regulations. The great news is the Pro-Active approach to prevention and protection - saving lives.
Here in the USA we suffer from

ANSI / IWCA I-14.1-2001: an OSHA National Consensus Standard for Window Cleaning (Highlights)

The ANSI / IWCA I-14.1-2001 is an OSHA National Consensus Standard. It has been referenced in several OSHA CITATIONS (found elsewhere in this blog) -- buildings new and old need to meet the requirements of this standard. A few highlights (click title for more):

New York City Window Cleaning Fall Accident 2007

Here’s a positive update on the recent New York City window cleaning accident…
In the national news Friday morning (Jan 4, 2008) was a report the surviving brother has improved significantly from this tragic accident. It’s being called “a miracle”. Imagine surfing a falling platform down the wall of a tall building! These are the creations of movies, not real life…
GOOGLE "new york city window cleaning accident"
It seems two mistakes may have lead to this event (a) a faulty platform / scaffold or faulty suspension lines and (b) workers not using safety lines independently tied off. If they suspected the platform was unsafe, as earlier reports stated, why wouldn’t they tie themselves off to safety tie-backs? The presumption is maybe there weren’t any tiebacks on the building.
Apparently, according to the news, the family of the deceased window cleaner has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the building managers and scaffold company. No matter what the outcome, it will not bring him back.
Please forward to your friends and associates who are in the industry to help raise awareness of hazard identification, hazard reduction, fall protection, fall prevention and risk mitigation.