MILWAUKEE, WI and MINNEAPOLIS, MN / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2019 / Fall Protection is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) leading #1 most frequently cited of all OSHA standards violated for the past four years running. This has led to OSHA cracking down and handing out record-setting fines and financial penalties for each safety violation found in the workplace.
15,400 OSHA violations were cited as a result of fall protection and fall hazards in 2018. With penalties up to $13,260 per safety violation, and up to $132,598 per willful or repeated safety violations, these quickly add up to lost profits to the bottom line for employers and companies.
"If an OSHA Inspector showed up at your workplace location, whether it was a manufacturing plant, factory, warehouse, retail store, facility, mining operation, or job site today, would you feel extremely confident you are within 100% OSHA compliance for fall protection? Most company executives or upper management would answer 'no' especially if they didn't have a recent Fall Protection Safety Audit, or worse, never had one, prior to OSHA showing up," said Jeff Reep, Chief Safety Officer with Fall Protection Officer, a company that specializes in accident prevention and workplace safety.
Fall hazards in the workplace. Simulation of a workplace accident resulting in an injured unconscious employee that fell off a six-foot tall ladder in a warehouse facility. Source: Katarzyna Bialasiewicz / 123rf.com
Safety laws and regulations ensure workers are not at risk of serious injury, or worse, even death. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is one of the United States Department of Labor's (DOL) key government agencies tasked with assuring safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance.
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) are two organizations that help set standards and safety requirements for fall protection and personal fall protection systems, however, these are only recommended general safety guidelines and not actual laws.
ANSI and ASSE are not government agencies like OSHA. This is where some confusion comes into play with employers not fully understanding the exact rules and regulations to follow.
What Most Employers Do Not Know About Fall Protection
Employers must comply with all applicable OSHA standards, because they are actual laws and regulations. The problem that most employers face is not knowing what all the fall protection rules and regulations are. OSHA has established industry-specific requirements and tools to reduce the risks that come with working at elevated heights.
Fall protection is required where workers are exposed to falls from the following heights:
- 4' in general industry workplaces
- 5' in shipyards
- 6' in the construction industry
- 8' in longshore operations
Workplace Accidents Cost Employers $1 Billion Every Week
The National Safety Council (NSC) recently published their annual Injury Facts Report, compiling data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), OSHA, other government agencies and major insurance companies. This report also tracked the hard costs that came out of employer's pockets.
The NSC report estimated that employers in the United States pay almost $1 billion per week for direct workers' compensation costs alone. The costs of workplace injuries and illnesses include direct and indirect costs.
Important Questions Employers Should Ask Themselves
Do you understand all the OSHA regulations and safety codes for proper fall protection?
Do your employees have proper fall protection training?
Have you been fined in the past for OSHA safety violations?
Will you 100% pass a surprise OSHA inspection?
What other safety facts and regulations are you not aware of, when it comes to fall protection?
Answering 'no' to any of those questions is a clear sign that proper steps need to be taken to ensure an overall safe working environment for employees at all workplace locations or job sites.
"The small investment of a Fall Protection Safety Audit is a very inexpensive insurance policy. Nothing compared to the costs of being fined by OSHA for fall protection violations, or worse, having one of your employees injured or killed due to lack of fall protection training and safety hazard prevention," says Reep.
About Fall Protection Officer
Fall Protection Officer™ Designing for Safety, specializes in accident prevention and safety by helping companies navigate through the complex maze of OSHA laws and regulations, offering safety products and services for employers to stay OSHA compliant, while improving workplace safety for all employees working at their company locations or job sites, throughout the United States, Canada and multiple other countries globally.
Through its affiliated network of licensed fall protection engineers and safety professionals, Fall Protection Officer™ can assist companies with: on-site safety inspections, fall protection safety training (at-risk worker, competent person, qualified person, train-the-trainer), fall safety design and engineering, personal fall protection line of products, anchor point installations, certifications and re-certifications, just to name a few.
To schedule a Fall Protection Consultation or Fall Protection Safety Audit, visit http://FallProtectionOfficer.com or call +1-920-569-0939 today.
(Fall Protection Officer™ is a 7 Figure PR™ Company Brand)
For News Media and Press Inquiries
Contact Linda Woods, Director of Communications for Fall Protection Officer™. Email linda.woods@fallprotection.me or call +1-877-463-9777 ext.627
SOURCE: Fall Protection Officer™
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