When you were young, you may have tried to impress your friends with daredevil antics, like climbing onto trees and rooftops, jumping down from as high as you could, dangling from the edge of buildings. That’s because too often young people think they’re invincible, but adults no better.
And if you work on dangerous job sites, there’s nothing less impressive than treating safety like a game. Serious workers have families that depend on them, and workers or managers who refuse to put safety first endanger everyone on the team (not to mention the financial consequences of an accident on the job).
That’s why it’s crucial to ensure your team always has two things:
- Access to the latest high-quality lifting products and rigging hardware
- Recent OSHA fall protection training, crane training, rigging certification, or whatever training is required to do the job right
And according to OSHA, there is a simple three-step process to preventing tragic accidents and falls: Plan, Provide, and Train.
Fortunately, the increased awareness and focus put on fall safety is paying off, and worker injuries are going down so far this decade. To ensure that trend continues, managers will have to take proactive steps to ensure continue compliance with OSHA requirements, ANSI standards, and CSA regulations relating to fall protection.
Fortunately, the best fall protection equipment companies also provide the fall arrest training required to use this gear correctly. For instance, Certex lifting products can be combined with a range of fall protection training courses, industrial rescue training, and even specialized field testing services. Even the best Certex lifting products would be worthless if workers aren’t trained on the proper way to use them in the field.
Remember, it’s not enough to have the best lifting products on the market. It’s up to you to ensure your workers are trained to use these products in an emergency. Even then it’s still necessary to provide regular inspections of the equipment to ensure it’s ready to go when it’s needed. For instance, slings must be inspected annually for normal use, but as often as every month for severe service use. Even the best Certex lifting products are subject to wear and tear, which means it’s up to you to ensure the equipment is work-ready at all times.
OSHA recommends that you Plan, Provide, and Train, but don’t forget the last step: testing and inspection.
