I have always had a fear of heights. I am an acrophobiac. Even a picture or video of a high rise can bring chills on my spine. I have always wondered that how brave these people are who construct and do all the labor work in making these high rise buildings. And what about there safety, god forbid if an accident occurs what will happen. So I started to Google and came to know that there are specific safety standards that very construction work should maintain. These standards are called as fall protection.
Fall protection is a safety measure to prevent falls, which usually occur in the construction work, but can occur in all types of occupations. Fall protection must be provided over dangerous equipment and machinery.
Falls can be categorized into slips, falling from ladders, stairs or ramps, or from a moving vehicle. There may not be one reason behind a fall, but many. But we should always follow the safety measures to avoid such falls.
The selection of a particular fall protection system to control the mishap depends upon the type of workplace and the job the worker has to perform. The worker’s alertness and the safety products and equipments, altogether can be life saving at the most treacherous places.
The U.S. department of labor has Fall protection as a specific standard in the general industry. This standard popularly known as Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration (OSHA) highlights the rules and the national consensus standards related to fall protection. Various sections of OSHA describe how employees are free from the recognized imperilments.
The most common hazards sometimes turn out to be the most perilous. There are number of ways by which the workers can be protected from falls including handrails, guardrails, safety line and belt, safety nets etc. The choice of protection system is the one which will omit the rarest chances of falling, completely. For example we can fix the barriers instead of choosing the personal fall protection equipments, to guard the workers. This way, there is no such position for the worker to fall in.
Some common methods used for preventing the hazards are:
Surface protection: the surface should be made such so that it is not slippery. Also the surface should be kept free from the equipments and materials that are not required at the workplace. Floors that may become slippery due to workplace operations, for e.g. say due to oil slippage, must be cleaned and the floor should be polished properly, so that it provides enough friction to walk, without falling!
Fixed Barriers: This module requires a support post in order to provide ample support for the two adjacent panels which are hingeable
Fixed barriers must be capable of stopping a worker from proceeding beyond the edge of the work level.
Warning barriers: a warning barrier warns the workers against the hazardous areas, where a possibility of falling exists. It is advisable to put a warning barrier, at least 2m from the falling area. Warning barriers do not protect us from falling, but they make us aware of the treacherous areas.
Handrails: it servers the purpose for both, guarding the workers as well as providing support to them.
There is always a chance for us to choose. You have to choose for your safety, or run into trouble. Be safe, be happy!
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