Improving Safety While Working at Heights

1. Improving Safety While Working at Heights Competent Person Fall Protection Training

3. Then and Now Today, safety on the job is considered a fundamental human value, but early in the 20th century many people worked daily in dangerous conditions with little or nothing to protect them from injury. As a result, workers routinely were seriously hurt or even killed in job-related accidents. It was common practice when bidding a job to factor in fatalities or serious injuries. With the advent of OSHA in the 70’s, many of the standards were not performance driven and when a worker fell for elevated heights, post investigation stated, “He was not tied-off”. Today, much progress has been made but many questions remain for applications and higher performing soft-goods and mechanicals. Our product line will continue to expand and respond the client driven needs.

4. ”The person at risk comes first." • Our first concern, like yours, is worker safety. The lower the injury rate, the higher your profits and employee morale. The traditional safety solution is equipment oriented. • But Reliance has a different idea, we believe the best way of delivering safety at heights and in confined spaces, should try to find solutions that eliminate the hazards or avoid exposures to them. • However activities like construction and infrequent exposure mandate the use of PFAS

5. Who are you • Designed for the at-risk worker, supervisor, safety manager or safety professional, who requires training in the methods of identifying, evaluating and controlling workplace hazards of personal falls from heights or into a lower level.

6. How (Vocational Training) • Tell • Read and See • Show • Review • Demonstrate Yeah, I know you didn’t just fall off the watermelon truck, I’m just testing you!

7. National Statistics on Falls For statistical purposes, falls are grouped into four categories according to their type. The four statistical categories of falls are: • Slips on the walking surface leading to a fall to the walking surface. • Trips on the walking surface leading to a fall to the walking surface. • Falls on stairs. • Falls from heights.

8. According to one study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in one year over 80 percent of workers surviving from falls lost time from work. • On average, the lost time was over 30 days - more than twice the average for all other work-related accidental injuries. • In a high percentage of industrial falls from heights, the outcome is either fatality or permanent disability of the victim

10. Nonfatal cases involving days away from work in the construction industry from 1992 to 2001 in the USA (Bureau of Labor Statistics)

13. Fatal Fall Facts for 2008 • The 680 fatal falls in 2008 represent a 20 percent decline from the series high of 847 fatal falls in2007. • Fatal falls to a lower level, which accounted for 85 percent of all falls, were down 23 percent in 2008. • Fatal falls from roofs were down 26 percent and falls from ladders decreased by 14 percent. • The number of fatal falls on same level (to a floor or walkway or against an object) increased slightly in 2008

14. Falls From Heights in Workplace • In industry, falls from heights have been a major cause of fatal and disabling injuries over the past 20 years. In the period 2003 through 2005, the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics reports there were • 2285 fatalities due to falls from heights by workers. • Of these, 2004 accidental fatalities were due to falls to a lower level and the remainder from ladders, scaffolds, or roofs. (12.29%) • Surprisingly only 49.7% of the fatalities were in construction and demolition demographics. • This shows that other occupations are not exempt from exposures

15. Key Fndings of the 2008 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries • Fatal work injuries in the private construction sector in 2008 declined by 20 percent from the updated 2007 total, twice the all-worker decline of 10 percent. • Fatal workplace falls, which had risen to a series high in 2007, also declined by 20 percent in 2008. • Workplace suicides were up 28 percent to a series high of 251 cases in 2008, but workplace homicides declined 18 percent in 2008. • The number and rate of fatal work injuries among 16 to 17 year-old workers were higher in 2008. • Fatal occupational injuries involving Hispanic or Latino workers in 2008 were 17 percent lower than in 2007. Fatalities among non-Hispanic Black or African American workers were down 16 percent. • The number of fatal workplace injuries in farming, fishing, and forestry occupations rose 6 percent in 2008 after declining in 2007. • Transportation incidents, which accounted for approximately two-fifths of all the workplace fatalities in 2008, fell 13 percent from the previous series low of 2,351 cases reported in 2007.

16. Economic factors likely played a role in the fatality decrease However average hours worked at the national level fell by one percent in 2008, and some industries that have historically accounted for a significant share of worker fatalities, such as construction, experienced larger declines in employment or hours worked.

18. While workers in construction incurred the most fatalities of any industry in the private sector in 2008, the number of fatalities in construction declined 20 percent, from 1,204 cases in 2007 to 969 cases in 2008. • Fatalities involving workers in the construction of buildings were down 21 percent from 2007, with most of the decrease occurring in residential building construction (down 28 percent to 93 cases). • Heavy and civil engineering construction was down 14 percent, and the subsector with the largest number of fatalities, specialty trade contractors, had 19 percent fewer fatalities in 2008 than in 2007 • Fatalities in construction and extraction occupations, which accounted for nearly one-fifth of all fatalities in 2008, decreased by 18 percent from the previous year. Construction laborer fatalities were down 31 percent (from 345 in 2007 to 239 in 2008). Carpenters, brick masons, electricians, roofers, pipelayers, plumbers, and extraction workers were among the other groups that saw declines in 2008. • First line supervisors/managers of construction trades and extraction workers, construction equipment operators, and painters/paperhangers were among the occupational groups in construction and extraction that had higher numbers of fatal injuries in 2008.

20. Selected States Fatality by Event or Exposure

21. Construction Fatalities

22. Selected Occupational Fatalities

23. Fall Fatalities – Work Activity

25. Fatal work injuries involving Hispanic or Latino workers increased to a series high in 2006 but decreased in 2007. More than two-thirds of fatally injured Hispanic or Latino workers in 2006 were born outside of the U.S.

26. Fatal Occupational Injuries in thePrivate Mining Industry, 2003–07 While the private mining industry declined in 2007 lead by 40% decrease in coal mining fatalities. Oil and gas industry accounted for two-thirds of the fatal work injuries in that segment

27. Fatal work injury rates for workers 45 years of age and over were higher than the overall U.S. rate,but workers 44 years of age and under had lower rates.

28. Selected occupations with high fatality rates, 2006

30. Workers are exposed to falls from heights in a wide variety of places such as: • Atop presses and machinery. • Atop pipe racks. • Atop overhead cranes. • Working on conveyors and monorails. • Working on or within furnaces. • Atop and within water towers and silos. • Working at roof edges and openings.

31. Workers are also exposed to falls into and onto hazardous places such as: • In to compactors. • In to tanks and machinery • On to hot surfaces.

32. Exposure to the hazard of falling from heights also exists when performing daily tasks such as: • Changing light fixtures and bulbs. • Installing wiring. • Installing ventilation equipment. • Installing conduit and piping. • Maintaining overhead devices and structures.

33. Same Surface Falls • Slips and trips are sometimes referred to as one category, called same-surface falls. Same-surface falls occur with relatively high frequency and, statistically, their severity is relatively low in comparison to falls on stairs and from heights. • On the other hand, falls from heights occur with relatively low frequency but the severity of outcomes tends, statistically, to be very high. As the name of this course implies, here we deal with the category of falls from heights.

34. Hierarchy of Controls • Remove the fall hazard through redesign • Implementation of a collective fall protection measure • Implementation of a personal fall protection system Elimination or Substitution: Removal of the fall hazard. Passive Fall Protection: Isolation of the hazard from workers. Fall Restraint: Connection of the worker to an anchorage, preventing the worker from reaching the fall hazard. Fall Arrest: Connection of the worker to a system designed to stop a fall after it has begun. Administrative Controls: Work practices or procedures designed to warn a worker before he or she approaches a fall hazard.

35. Remove the Hazard • A rolling crane type structure constructed in a building providing safe access to all structural and mechanical parts of the structure. • Integrated means by which equipment can be lowered to the ground for maintenance instead of the worker going up to the level of the equipment.

36. (Collective systems don't require the worker to do or wear anything extra.They work all of the time and in all conditions once they are installed. Implementation of a Collective Fall Protection Measure • Guardrails - Guardrails will keep the worker on an elevated surface. • Stairways - Stairs provide a protected means of ascending and descending form heights. • Platforms - A platform is an elevated secured surface that usually incorporates guardrails in order to eliminate fall hazards. • Netting - Debris netting keeps items from hitting workers below the net. Safety netting catches an individual in the event of a fall.

37. The 3rd group would be a Personal Fall Arrest System (PFAS). The difference between a personal fall protection system and a personal fall arrest system is the arrester. The PFAS has an arrester that reduces the total impact force on your body resulting from a fall. The arrester may be a shock absorbing lanyard or it may be incorporated into a mechanical device like a self-retracting lanyard.

38. NUMBER 3, When All Else Fails! • Group Fall Protection System • Climbing Systems - Ladders both fixed and portable • Personnel Riding Systems - Bucket lifts, powered platforms and scissors lifts • Work Positioning Systems - Locking rope grab, static lanyard • Personal Fall Protection System • NUTS AND BOLTS OF WHAT YOU KNOW FALL PROTECTION IS ABOUT

39. Full Body Harness Consisting of nylon webbing with metal D-rings • Connectors -D-rings, carabiners, locking snaphooks, oval rings • Lanyards - Wire rope, webbing, synthetic rope • Anchorages - D-rings, web straps, wire rope, eye of straight bolts, flanges • Mechanicals - Self retracting lanyards, hoists, rope grabs, ladder grabs

40. Forces Forces of Nature Forces are the biggest idea in physics. The whole purpose of physics is to study the forces that are found in the universe. The forces could be big, such as the pull of a star on a planet. The forces could also be very small, such as the pull of a nucleus on an electron. Some force affects everything in the universe at all times. Forces as Energy Physicists define forces as specific amounts of energy applied to an object. Anything could be a force. If you were a ball sitting on a field and someone kicked you, a force would have acted on you. After receiving the force, you would go bouncing down the field. There are always many forces at work. Physicists might not study them all at the same time, but even if you were standing still, you would have many forces acting on you. Those forces would include gravity, air pressure, wind speed, the strength of your skeleton, the strength of your muscles, and many other smaller forces.

41. Forces Let's look at the forces acting on that ball. As you sat there, the force of gravity was keeping you on the ground. On a molecular level, the surface of the ball was holding itself together as the gas inside of the ball tried to escape. There may have also been small forces trying to push you as the wind blew. If there is more than one force acting on an object, the forces can be added up (or subtracted). After coming up with a value, scientists use the value of a Newton or Force-Pounds (lbf) to measure the amount of force. The force applied to the soccer ball (from the kick) could be equal to 12 Newtons. 1 Newton= 2.24 lbf 1 Kn= 224 lbf

42. Forces A Formula of Force There is one totally important formula when it comes to forces, F = ma. That's all there is, but everything revolves around that formula. "F" is the value of the force, "m" is the object's mass, and "a" is the acceleration that happens. As a sentence. "The force applied to the object equals the mass of the object multiplied by the amount of its acceleration." The forces acting on the soccer ball are equal to the mass of the soccer ball multiplied by its change in speed (acceleration). Do you remember the wind blowing on the soccer ball? The forces acting on the ball were very small because the mass of air was very small. Small masses mean small forces unless there is a large acceleration. Forces and Vectors A vector can be used to represent any force. Vectors describe a magnitude of force that is applied in a specific direction. Just kick the ball in an amount and in a certain direction

43. Newton's Three Laws of Motion First Law The first law says that an object at rest tends to stay at rest. An object in motion tends to stay in motion, in the same direction and speed. If nothing is happening to you and nothing does happen you will never go anywhere. If you're going in a specific direction, unless something happens to you, you will always go in that direction - UNLESS A FORCE VECTOR IS APPLIED TO CHANGE THE MOTION. IN FREE FALL, MOTHER GRAVITY IS THE FORCE VECTOR.

44. Newton's Three Laws of Motion Second Law The second law says that the accelerationof an object produced by an applied force is directly proportional to the magnitude of the force, the same direction as the force, and inversely proportional to the mass of the object. The second law shows that acceleration and mass are inversely proportional. Inversely proportional means that if one value goes up the other value will go down, assuming everything else stays the same. The equation for this idea is F = m x a. If you want the force of an effort to stay the same, you need to consider both the mass and acceleration. If you want a constant force but the acceleration is increasing, you will need to lose mass. On the other hand, if the mass of your object increases, you will need it to slow down to keep the same force.

45. Newton's Three Laws of Motion Third Law The third law says that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Forces are found in pairs. Think about the time you sit in a chair. Your body exerts a force moving down and that chair needs to exert an equal force up or the chair will collapse. It's an issue of symmetry. Acting forces encounter other forces in the opposite direction. There's also the example of the shooting cannonball. When the cannonball is fired through the air (by the explosion), the cannon is pushed back. The force pushing the ball out was equal to the force pushing the cannon back. That example is similar to the kick when a gun is fired.

46. Rock or Pig gravity • Constant Acceleration because of gravity acting on mass unless? • Third law of Motion= force is found in pairs (that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction). • Why did the pig bounce and the rock did not?

47. Velocity, Speed, and Motion Velocity and speed are very similar ideas. Velocity is the rate of motion in a specific direction. I'm going that-a-way at 30 miles per hour. My velocity is 30 MPH. It's also described as a measure of distance divided by time. Velocity can be constant, or it can change (acceleration). Speed with a direction is velocity. Velocity is a vector measurement because it has an amount and a direction. Changing Your Velocity When velocity is changing, the word acceleration is used. A positive acceleration happens when you speed up. A negative acceleration (deceleration) happens when you slow down. Constant Acceleration There are a few special times when there is something called constant acceleration. This type of acceleration happens when the acceleration is constant in both amount and direction. The best example is gravity. Gravity's pull on objects is a constant here on Earth and it always pulls toward the center of the planet.

48. Speed and Velocity are Simply theTime Rate of Change of Distance • Speed is distance traveled by a body per unit of time. • The term speed is sometimes used to mean the magnitude of velocity • Velocity is the rate of motion (speed) of a body in a stated direction. • Average speed of a body is the total path distance over which the body moves divided by the total elapsed time.

49. Acceleration and Deceleration • The simplest case of acceleration is when the velocity of a body moving in a straight line changes by equal amounts in equal intervals of time. This is called constant acceleration or uniform acceleration • Acceleration is commonly measured in feet per second per second (ft/sec/sec or ft/sec2). • For a body to accelerate there must be a force on it. In the case of a fall from a height, this force is the force of gravity.