10 Safety Tips for Working at

Heights (in 2019 and Beyond)

Whether you work at heights every day or just once in a while, your
safety focus during those times is of utmost importance. It takes one
mistake to turn a routine work task into a fatality. Falls are debilitating.
Falls are deadly. You must be prepared to protect your employees
each and every time they could be exposed.
What is Working at Height?
Working at height refers to any work that is above ground or below
ground in which a person could fall and injure themselves if no
precautions are taken. You could fall off a ladder, off a roof's edge, or
through an opening on the floor. In the general industry, fall protection
is required at 4 feet above a lower level. Here are ten safety tips to
consider if your employees work at heights.

1. Use Railing
When you can, use railing. Passive protection is the easiest way to
keep your workers safe in order to achieve compliance because there
is nothing that they need to actually do to keep themselves safe (other
than stay within the rails…and if your employees are climbing outside
of protective rails, you’ve got bigger problems to address!). There are
railing system for almost every style of rooftop like non-penetrating
railing for flat or low-slope roofs, parapet mounted railing, metal roof
railing, and more. Pre-fabricated railings can be permanently affixed or
portable to suit your needs. Regardless of which type you use, once in
place, you’ll find rails to be the easiest fall protection system to use.
2. Select the Proper PPE
If you’re going to use Personal Fall Arrest Systems (PFAS), you need
to ensure you’re choosing the proper equipment. All full-body
harnesses that meet ANSI standards will perform the same, despite
their cost, however, that price differential is getting you something.
Sure, sometimes it’s just a name, but other times, it’s functionality that
you’re getting or sacrificing, such as extra D-rings, fireproof material or
arc-safe design. Sometimes, a more expensive harness is more
expensive simply because it’s been made to be more comfortable.
Do your research and decide what you really need. If you have
workers welding at heights, then a standard nylon harness is probably
not going to be what you need. Perhaps Kevlar is the way to go. And,
don’t forget your workforce. Perhaps comfort isn’t your main concern
(though it’s certainly much easier to get cooperation from your workers
if they are comfortable wearing the equipment), but that’s not the only
consideration you need to make. Harnesses are not one-size-fits-all.
Make sure your workers can properly adjust their harnesses so that
they fit correctly.

Lanyards need to be properly selected as well. Depending on the

height at which you are working, a 6’ lanyard with a deceleration
device will not protect your worker. Instead, a retractable lanyard may
be necessary. Each situation is different, so you need to evaluate your
working conditions and the task to be performed in order to give your
employees something that will actually protect them.
3. Inspect Your PPE
Employees can use all the equipment they want, if they’re
not inspecting it, it could fail anytime. When it comes to harnesses and
lanyards, while they need to be periodically inspected by a Competent
Person (one with the knowledge to recognize the hazard AND the
authority to correct it), they should also be inspected by the user prior
to every use. In order for this to happen, your users need to
understand what they’re looking for, what is acceptable and what is
not, and what to do when they find a problem. The inspection should
be thorough, but does not need to take a lot of time. Even so, this brief
pre-work check could save a life.
4. Ensure You Understand Fall Distance
You can wear all the fall protection equipment in the world, but if it
allows you to hit the lower level before it engages, it’s pointless. This
may sound like a "common sense" statement, but you’d be surprised
at how many people don’t seem to have “common sense”. It is not
unusual to go onto a construction site or observe a maintenance crew
in a plant and see a worker at 10-12’ off the ground wearing a 6’
lanyard with a deceleration device. While at first glance you might
think that it should work, there are a number of reasons why it won’t.
First, you have to add 3.5’ of distance to account for the deployment of
your deceleration device. Already that means the lanyard itself is 9.5’
long. Unless you are a 6” tall person, this is some pretty bad news.
Your actual fall distance needs not only include the length of your
lanyard when deployed, but also your body length below the D-ring
and any sag in your harness and anchor system. Count on a good
18.5’ minimum before you’re able to use a 6’ lanyard with deceleration
device.
5. Ensure the Selection of Acceptable Anchor Point
As Grandpa said in The Lost Boys, "We’ve got rules!" Sure, he was
referring to drinking his root beer and not peeling the label back on the
TV Guide, but he might as well have been talking about anchor points.
If you were to pick a construction site at random right now and see
what they’re using as anchor points, you might assume there were no
rules. PVC pipe? Not an anchor. Decorative steel? Not an anchor.
In fact, many more things will NOT be an acceptable anchor point than
WILL be an acceptable anchor point. Why? Because the anchor point
must support not only the weight of the person attached but 5000 lbs.
per person attached (or a factor of 2 if you’re having an engineer to
determine your anchor). Many fixtures are not going to withstand
those forces. Structural steel using a proper beam clamp? Sure. A
manufactured roofing cart or other manufactured anchor? Sure, if
installed properly.

To see an example of a compliant, and easy to install anchor point

take a look at the Weightanka deadweight anchor. Short of that, you’re
going to need some documentation and/or an engineer’s approval to
use something as an anchor point.
6. Ensure You Select the Best Means of Working at Heights
(Scaffold vs Lift vs Ladder)
Just as harnesses are not one-size-fits-all, neither are fall protection
solutions. In some situations, a scaffold is going to be your best
solution to work at heights. If so, you’ll probably be able to equip them
with rails, making your fall protection much easier to address. Other
times, scaffolds will be infeasible and you’ll find yourself on a lift.
Depending on the type of lift, you may or may not need to wear a
harness and a lanyard (and properly tie off). Still other times, you’ll
need to use a ladder, at which point the requirements for fall
protection become trickier. In the end, thinking that a ladder is going to
suffice no matter what situation you’re in (or a lift, or a scaffold, or any
other means of elevation) is only asking for problems. Evaluate your
situation carefully and determine the right piece of equipment suitable
for the task in that location.

7. Use Ladders Properly

Don’t just assume because you have a ladder at home, you know
what you’re doing. In fact, the safest way to live on this planet is to
always assume you don’t know what you’re doing. In most cases,
you’re going to be right! Ladders lie at the source of many industrial
and workplace accidents simply because we take their use for
granted. Ladders are familiar. You use them to hang your Christmas
lights, paint the living room, change that annoying hard to reach high-
hat bulb, and clean your gutters. We use them so often that we must
know what we’re doing because we’ve never gotten hurt before!

Ladders are dangerous. When improperly used, they’re REALLY

dangerous. First, make sure that ladders are the best way to do what
you’re doing, then make sure your employees know how to properly
use them. 3’ extension, 4:1 ratio, 3 points of contact, and secured. If
you don’t know what that refers to, you may not know how to use an
extension ladder properly. You know that sticker on a step ladder that
says, "Don’t stand on this step or above."? If you think that means you
can step there but no higher, you might not know how to use a step-
ladder. Provide your employees with proper training so that they use
the tools they are being given the right way.
Also, if you are going to be using a fixed ladder, make sure that it is
protected by a ladder safety gate or an offset. Chains are no longer
compliant and need to be replaced with one of the aforementioned
solutions.
8. Know Your Roofing Regulations
Roofing regulations are some of the most misunderstood
requirements. Not only do roofers not know exactly what is required of
them most of the time, but many other contractors working on roofs
who are not roofers believe that certain methods of fall protection are
available to them when, in reality, they’re not. Warning lines at 6’ with
a monitor are only allowed for roofers performing roofing work (and 10’
back from the edge if there is mechanical equipment traveling in that
direction). Notice the phrase "with a monitor" in the previous
statement. There is NO situation in which a warning line is an
acceptable means of fall protection that does not also include a
dedicated monitor being present. There are a few that allow for a
monitor with no warning line (low-slope roofs less than 50’ in width for
instance), but none that allow a warning line with no monitor. Also,
notice the phrase “dedicated monitor” in that previous statement.
Monitors must not have duties that would distract them from
performing as a monitor. You see where I’m going with this? There are
many nuances to the rules for roofers. If you are one, make sure you
are familiar with the regulations and your requirements or speak to
somebody who is.
9. Ensure Proper Use of Lifts
There are many ways in which a lift operator can do something wrong,
so I won’t get into the actual operation of lifts here, but we do need to
discuss fall protection in regards to lifts. One thing that gets missed
quite often is that any person in a boom lift, at any time, at any height,
must be properly tied-off. "Properly tied-off" not only means that they
need to be secured to the engineered anchor point designed with the
lift, but it means that they can’t wrap their lanyard around the rails and
they need to have a lanyard that is actually going to protect them at
the height at which they are working (see fall distance above). With
scissor lifts, things are a little different. While the site you are working
on or the owner of the facility/project may require you to tie-off in a
scissor lift, there is no regulatory requirement to do so. However, the
moment you forget to close your gate or secure your chain, you are no
longer protected by the rails and are now in a fall protection violation.
It’s that simple. Also, keep your feet planted firmly on the platform.
Both of them.
10. Train, Train, Train
It’s been mentioned in various paragraphs above, but it can’t be
stressed enough. If you want your employees to work safely at
heights, they must be properly trained. Period. The end. Not only is
training required by law, but there is also just too much room for error
and confusion when it comes to a person without the proper
knowledge trying to protect themselves at heights. Falls are the
leading killer in construction year after year. Many people in other
industries die from falls as well, so they are very deadly. Most of the
time, there are no do-overs. Arm your employees with the knowledge
they need to keep themselves safe.

Working safely at heights does not come by chance. It is not

something you luck your way into. Working safely at heights takes
preparation, education, and determination. When it comes to fall
protection, you can’t have too much information.