OSHA Increasing Fines and Penalties SIGNIFICANTLY!

The days of "playing the numbers game" with fatalities in the workplace vs. fines or worse, litigation and settlements and insurance premiums is coming to an end ... the Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) is coming to town. Willful violations will start at $250,000 and go up from

Know Your Worker Rights Under the OSHA Act of 1970

You do not need to work under unsafe conditions. You do not need to be forced to put your own life in danger of serious injury or death. You have a right to come home to your families every day after work.

You have a right to

The OSHA "General Duty" Clause

Each employer has a fiduciary responsibility for safety and safe working conditions.

According to OSHA Act of 1970 // SEC. 5. Duties

(a) Each employer -- (1) shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees; and (2) shall comply with occupational safety and health standards promulgated under this Act.

(b) Each employee -- shall comply with occupational safety and health standards and all rules, regulations, and orders issued pursuant to this Act which are applicable to his own actions and conduct.

Fallacy of Fall Protection From Manually Rigged Horizontal Lines

Over the past several years, we have seen many a "jury rigged" fall protection "system" on the roof tops of buildings. By this we mean a chaotic assembly of hand-tied ropes and / or cables, attached to roof vents, plumbing, HVAC equipment stands, conduits or other 'structures', thus spreading the 'load' of the suspended worker(s) and their powered platforms or boatswain chairs, or the load of a worker falling from an unprotected roof edge or walking / working surface.

FIGURE:1
Effect of a rigged horizontal line being used to suspend a 1,250 lb. working load, when the sag is only 1.2" and the line is 20' in length; the load in the line is 41,663 lbs. !!! Sag must be sufficiently increased so the load in the line is less than 5,000 lbs.


Problem #1
Ropes are

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

Window Washers Die in 40-Foot Lift Tip-Over

2 Window Washers Die in 40-Foot Fall
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: August 5, 2008

Two cousins who were window washers fell to their deaths while working on a financial district building early on Tuesday, the police said.
They identified the victims as Robert Fabrizio, 35, of Las Vegas, and Garin Fabrizio, 37, of Milford, Pa.
The two were working in a crane

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.

Welcome Message

Welcome to the No Fall Company, LLC Fall Protection and Prevention blog. This site is intended as an informational service only. We welcome questions and comments, anything that promotes safe working practices as they relate to the General Duty Clause of OSHA to provide a safe working environment, pertaining to suspended work and working at heights, or near potential fall hazards.