AMTA  E-News

February 2010

Fall Protection: What Employers, Supervisors Need to Know

Throughout 2009, falls remained a significant cause of injuries and fatalities in the transportation industry. Using fall protection properly can make the difference between life and death.

All employers, whether provincially or federally regulated, are required to conduct a hazard assessment to identify existing and potential hazards before work begins at the work site or prior to the construction of a new work site. This hazard assessment, of course, will include any risk of falls.

Alberta legislation states that “an employer must ensure that a worker is protected from falling at a temporary or permanent work area if a worker may fall a vertical distance of 3 metres or more, a vertical distance of less than 3 metres if there is an unusual possibility of an injury, or into or onto a hazardous substance or object, or through an opening in a work surface.” Having said that, the legislation also requires a guardrail be installed at a permanent work area if the worker may fall a vertical distance of more than 1.2 metres and less than 3 metres.

Federal legislation makes specific reference to providing fall protection to any person who works from an unguarded structure or on a vehicle at a height of more than 2.4 metres above the nearest permanent safe level or above any moving parts of machinery or any other surface or thing that could cause injury to a person on contact.

As an employer, you need to make sure that your employees get fall protection training. As a supervisor, you need to make sure that your employees are using fall protection properly. If it’s not used correctly, it won’t protect anyone.

Wherever possible install permanent guardrails on tankers and trailers
where the employee is required to climb on top of the vehicle. They are
the best option because they reduce the fall hazard for everyone who has
access to the trailer.

If that’s not possible, each employee who may be exposed to the fall
hazard must use a fall-arrest or travel-restraint system.

The principles for providing fall protection for employees working at
heights above 2.4 metres on top of trailers or their loads are the same
as for any other work site. These are listed in their order of preference, namely:

1. Eliminate the need to work at heights.
   
   This is the best and most reliable means to prevent any risk of injury
   due to falls from heights.
   
2. Modify the work site or work method to make working at heights safe
   
   Locations such as terminals, inspection stations and bulk
   loading/unloading facilities could be equipped with raised platforms or
   other similar systems that allow employees to perform their duties
   without having to climb onto the vehicle.
   
3. Put safety systems in place to guard the workers from falling.
   
   Equip vehicles with walking platforms, guardrails as well as access
   ladders that allow work to be performed safely on the vehicle, while it
   is stationary, without the need for employees to wear personal
   protective equipment.
   
4. Provide personal fall-protection equipment.
   
   There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these options and the
   nature of vehicle operations may not lend itself to one choice only in
   all conditions. However, employers and employees should be fully aware
   of the issues involved with each of these approaches.

Fall-arrest and travel-restraint

• Always tie off to an anchor point that meets the minimum strength
  requirement. For fall arrest, as a general rule, choose an anchor point
  that is capable of supporting the weight of a small car (approximately
  3,600 pounds).
  
• Make sure that everyone who is exposed to a fall hazard is using a
  complete fall-arrest or travel-restraint system (i.e., harness, lanyard,
  rope grab, lifeline).
  
• Demonstrate how to use the equipment. Don’t assume that your workers
  have used a particular type of rope grab or harness before.
  
• We said it before, but it’s worth repeating: remind all your employees
  to tie off. If the fall-arrest or travel-restraint system is not tied
  off to an adequate anchor, it’s useless. Many employees have died after
  hitting the ground with fall-arrest equipment on, but not attached to
  anything. Adopt a zero-tolerance policy for employees who don’t tie off.
  

For more information on fall prevention please follow these links:

Alberta Employment & Immigration
http://employment.alberta.ca/1756.html

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety:
http://www.ccohs.ca/