While 2014 had one less fatality than 2013, education, training, and discussing the issues will hopefully allow us to have an even better 2015. Safety has been a huge topic this year, but still there have been too many fatalities. The Occupational Health & Safety Blog explains, “Fall protection is one safety area where achieving 100 percent compliance is an ongoing challenge. Most companies have employees who follow safety regulations to the letter, but there are still some who bypass the rules or disregard the fact that their employees are endangered by ineffective training, the leading cause of injury even when proper PPE is available. Unlike simple safety precautions, such as donning a hard hat, safety glasses or gloves, fall protection is more specialized, requiring training to learn how and when to use equipment.”
While a lot of companies train their employees to adhere to safety protocol, sometimes these lessons are forgotten or ignored. Now, sometimes there really are just unfortunate accidents. Tower climbing is a dangerous business—one where credit is not often given as much as it should be. 2015 is right around the corner. The OH&S Blog notes, “To continually protect all employees engaged in work activities that expose them to height safety risks, it’s crucial to establish structured guidelines within a written fall protection and rescue plan—as opposed to just talking about them. As a safety manager, it’s your responsibility to analyze and prepare for any fall hazards your workers may encounter before the actual work begins. By developing a plan in advance, you can evaluate how to best prevent a fall, train workers on the ground to ensure they are fully prepared in the event of a fall, and determine appropriate fall protection equipment.” Let’s start preparing now for a happy and safe 2015!
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