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In permit required confined spaces, workers are routinely entering areas which were not made with peoples’ comfort or safety in mind. They often have irregular entrances, tight spaces, and dangerous drops. Fall protection for confined space workers has been dramatically improving over the years, but even trained personnel don’t always know the correct configuration of equipment for each work site. To discuss fall safety in a confined space, we first need to define some of the common terms. …

Just as there are plenty of cars that will get you from A to B, just like safety equipment that will keep you safe and cover your OSHA requirements. But not everyone wants to drive a Smart Car. In fact, if you drive all the time or you have lots of equipment to haul around (to take this metaphor a bit further) that little sucker may not be the right choice at all. Let's take a look at some of our most popular ppe and the upgraded items that may just be a better bargain at the end of the da …

Recently a construction company contacted us to ask about using a Miller Beam Anchor. They knew the anchor had the ability to provide anchorage for fall protection when used in a horizontal application. The 8816-14 from Miller is a typical beam anchor designed to provide an overhead attachment point on an I-beam or an H-beam. What they wanted to know was could they use the same product in on a vertical beam? I'll keep the suspense to a minimum. Yes. Turns out Miller is perfectly happ …

ANSI Z359.1 was published in 1992 and approved a scant 15 years later. Slowly grind the wheels of progress. And ANSI Z359 is progress in terms of worker safety, even if it is going to cost more money in the short run. Greater regulation of worker safety almost inevitably means increased administrative work and expense for employers, compliance provides improved safety for workers and increased protection against litigation. Certainly these are both worthy goals, whether you're working in the …

Personal protective equipment like hard hats and harnesses aren't made to last forever. So much of this equipment has elastomeric or plastic parts that are particularly susceptible to deterioration over time. Abrasion can weaken stitching, nylon straps can be snagged and torn - even metal pieces corrode. Typically it's recommended by manufacturers that reusable PPE be replaced every 2-5 years even if it hasn't been damaged. But there are ways to extend the life of your PPE. Safety eq …

With oil production continuing to expand in areas like Midland, Texas and The Bakken, OSHA regulators haven't been far behind. It's not just drillers and chainhands that fall under the protection guidlines, but toolhands and other contractors who need to be fully equipped to deal with the health hazards associated with oil and gas extraction. We're going to take this space to discuss the personal protective equipment (PPE) that takes care of the OSHA requirements. In addition to those w …

While OSHA still establishes the laws surrounding workplace fall protection and is tasked with enforcing them, many organizations look to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for the most current safety procedures and best practices. The new(ish) Z359.1 standards from ANSI are an attempt to create a more holistic fall safety program. One of the biggest differences between these new specifications and the existing OSHA fall safety requirements are regular inspections of all fall sa …

While roof work in many parts of the country is slowing down or confined to winter repair projects, in California there are still roofing projects in full swing. Because I work for a safety company I can't help but look to see what safety equipment (if any) they're using when the work is happening in my neighborhood. So far, even since the OSHA rule changes earlier this year, only about half of the crews I see working are wearing the mandated fall protection. This is probably due to …

There is an old joke among climbers that industry standards for harnesses require them to be as uncomfortable as possible. That certainly may have been the case a few years back. Fall safety standards had companies scrambling to produce harnesses that would shield workers from fall forces, but rarely did they take movement and comfort into account. Today the same companies that have been combining technology with absolutely outstanding ergonomic research to yield harness designs that are ligh …

As construction projects take shape there is often no place overhead to attach fall protection equipment. This means foot level connections need to be made, and the fall protection has to be rated for the extra forces that can be generated from a fall. Enter the Nano-Lok Edge self-retracting lifeline from DBI-SALA. The Edge series of Nano-Lok SRLs have 8 ft. galvanized steel lifelines. Steel is used for lifelines in leading edge work because there are often unfinished, sharp edges th …