No matter how agile you are, a fall can happen. Your foot slips on some lubricant that wasn’t supposed to be there, a load shifts, a guard rail wasn’t properly secured, or you were off balance for just a moment. An employee at elevation is an employee who can fall from that elevation. It doesn’t take much elevation for a fall to have severe consequences.
Why, aside from the human toll, is fall protection of particular importance to company executives, managers, and supervisors? OSHA writes more citations for fall protection than for any other safety category. The “General Requirements” part of the fall protection requirements has been in the number one spot for the past 12 years in a row.
Last year, the training requirements for fall protection took eighth place. Ladders and scaffolding took fourth and fifth place, respectively. So, of the top ten OSHA citation categories, four are related to “death by sudden deceleration against the ground.” These rankings indicate a widespread apathy to the likelihood of a fall from elevation and the often tragic consequences of being unprepared when it happens.
If you look for “fall protection” in the index of the OSHA Construction Industry Regulations & Standards [29CFR1926], you will see the first entry in bold. This takes you to 1926.954 personal protective equipment, and it’s part of Subpart V – Power Transmission and Distribution. The requirements for fall protection PPE are in 1926.954(b). It takes about two pages of text. Employers must comply with all of this, just for the PPE.
Below that first bolded entry in the index is a long list. Of particular interest to safety directors in the electrical space are the following:
- General Requirements 1926.501(a)
- Personal Fall Arrest Systems 1926.502(d)
- Safety Net Systems 1926.502(c)
- Training Program 1926.503(a).
We’ll explore these and other subtopics of fall protection more in-depth as this series progresses. If you want to binge-read ahead, just go to Subpart M of the OSHA regs. It runs from page 327 (2021 edition) through page 342.
While we’re framing this series as how to protect your company from being cited by OSHA, the real goal of course is to protect your employees from losing a contest with gravity.
About the Author
Mark Lamendola
Mark is an expert in maintenance management, having racked up an impressive track record during his time working in the field. He also has extensive knowledge of, and practical expertise with, the National Electrical Code (NEC). Through his consulting business, he provides articles and training materials on electrical topics, specializing in making difficult subjects easy to understand and focusing on the practical aspects of electrical work.
Prior to starting his own business, Mark served as the Technical Editor on EC&M for six years, worked three years in nuclear maintenance, six years as a contract project engineer/project manager, three years as a systems engineer, and three years in plant maintenance management.
Mark earned an AAS degree from Rock Valley College, a BSEET from Columbia Pacific University, and an MBA from Lake Erie College. He’s also completed several related certifications over the years and even was formerly licensed as a Master Electrician. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and past Chairman of the Kansas City Chapters of both the IEEE and the IEEE Computer Society. Mark also served as the program director for, a board member of, and webmaster of, the Midwest Chapter of the 7x24 Exchange. He has also held memberships with the following organizations: NETA, NFPA, International Association of Webmasters, and Institute of Certified Professional Managers.