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Every October, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) releases a list of the top 10 workplace safety violations.
If you guessed “fall protection” as the number one violation, you might be familiar with this list. That’s because fall protection violations have remained at the top of OSHA’s list for the last six years. Falls are one of the most common causes of workplace deaths, and it seems many businesses are still not getting the message.
OSHA has another list it keeps tabs on; the “fatal four” types of fatal construction accidents. Falls are also number one this list. In 2014, falls were responsible for 359 out of 899 (39.9 percent) deaths in the construction industry.
How Do Businesses Provide Fall Protection?
Employers provide fall protection in several different ways. They give workers equipment, provide training, and set up barriers and safety nets.
Equipment: Equipment can include harnesses, ropes and ladders, just to name a few examples. This equipment can protect workers in the event they lose footing while working at high elevations.
Training: Workers should be familiarized with equipment used to prevent falls. For example, training programs on ladder and scaffold safety.
Barriers and safety nets: Employers can put up barriers around edges where workers are likely to fall. Safety nets might also break falls and prevent death.
Fall protection has been proven to save lives, but many businesses continue to cut corners. If a worker is killed or harmed by a violation of a specific safety requirement (VSSR), additional options for compensation may exist under the workers comp system. Injured workers or their families should contact a workers’ comp attorney to discover what options are available.
The Ohio workers comp attorneys at Larrimer & Larrimer, LLC have decades of experience helping injured workers and their families.