Worker Safety - The Safety & Numbers work safety blog

Know the Standards: OSHA Fall Protection Compliance

Most informed industry professionals are aware that OSHA has emphasized the importance of awareness and compliance to fall protection safety standards that are designed to reduce injury risk and fatalities from falls from heights. What may be less clear to business owners in both construction and general industry is OSHA’s dedication to proactively prosecute violations to the letter of the law. Several recent examples of OSHA’s commitment to fall protection injury prevention have shed light on risk areas for small business owners to be aware of.

OSHA Fall Protection Policy Enforcement

In February this year, OSHA drafted and delivered a warning to the communication tower industry of the increasing fatality rate in that industry, it’s relationship to fall protection, and how strictly OSHA will be enforcing fall protection standards as a result. Another example of OSHA’s firmness on fall protection is in their willingness to prosecute compliance gaps even when a business has taken significant precautions to protect employees. OSHA attempted to prosecute Ryder Transportation Services for an injury to a subcontractor at their site for a fall fatality through a roof skylight that was safely inaccessible to employees.

OSHA Fall Protection Standards

The most important point for concerned business owners in light of OSHA’s increased emphasis on fall protection compliance is their strictness and strategy for standard enforcement. OSHA may potentially cite your business not only for injuries resulting from a failure to provide fall protection, but also in cases where the business did not conduct an appropriate hazard assessment, even at seemingly low-risk heights of 4′. This result is effectively a double whammy effect for a single employee fall incident.

As a result, while it’s important to provide proper fall protection, it’s even more critical to conduct and document the proper precautionary procedures for any potential risk area, to save money and administrative battles in the case that a fall injury does occur. Here’s a brief summary of OSHA’s fall protection standards policy, with this in mind. Of course, anyone subject to OSHA violations should fully research the topic on their own with OSHA or a certified compliance consultant.

Construction Industry Fall Protection Compliance

Found in Section 1926.501, these can generally be summed up to require businesses to provide fall protection (guardrail systems, safety net systems, personal fall arrest systems) on walking or working surfaces with an ‘unprotected side or edge which is six feet or more above the lower‘.

General Industry Fall Protection Compliance

General industry standards are also stringent, with Section 1910.23 stated to include ‘every wall opening from which there is a drop of more than four feet‘, with that also applying to open-side floor or platforms. This requirement stipulates that risk areas be guarded by a standard railing or other means of fall protection.

And remember, the typical fall protection standards citations could be coupled with a citation for Section 1910.132 for failing to conduct a hazard assessment.

Fall Protect Your Business for Compliance

The application of these OSHA standards and enforcement policy strategies can thus be applied to a variety of settings, ranging from loading docks and flatbed truck beds to onsite or offsite machinery and equipment. Business owner/operators should be aware that even for fall hazards of 4′ or less, a hazard assessment must be conducted and fall protection compliance equipment provided.

Trucker® & IAS Custom Access Fall Protection Products

Of course, we at Innovative Access Solutions are well-prepared to help with your flatbed truck and loading dock fall protection, starting with safety engineered Trucker trailer access ladders and working platforms. In addition, IAS has a great deal of experience providing custom fall protection access equipment to machinery/equipment and multi-level walking or working surfaces at manufacturing facilities, dockyards, construction and mining sites, and public/retail settings.

To learn how IAS can design a fall protection access solution for your business, call our engineering team at (800) 388-6884 or submit our Contact form on IAScustom.com.

Attenuator Trucks for Highway Work Zone Safety

Attenuator trucks are highway safety vehicles equipped with an impact attenuating crash cushion for the purpose of reducing the risks resulting from crashes in construction work zones. These specialized vehicles are often required for government highway contracts to improve safety and reduce work zone fatalities.

The truck mounted attenuator, or TMA, is a crash cushion that is specifically designed to attach to a vehicle such as a snow plow, road construction vehicle or maintenance truck, in order to absorb kinetic energy if struck by a motorist. Not only do attenuator trucks save lives by absorbing the impact of a crash, they also reduce debris hazards after impact to improve traffic flow and reduce the risk to passing motorists.

TMAs are tested by the federal highway association for effectiveness and speed ratings. When mounted to road construction vehicles, TMA attenuators are subject to weight requirements and must be positioned at adequate distance to ensure the safety of workers and equipment in the event of a crash.

Attenuator Truck Equipment and Options

There are various types of truck mounted attenuators including tiltable or foldable options and trailer mounted attenuators. Tiltable options such as Trinity Industries’ MPS-350 are designed so that the attenuator will pivot up or down to engage or disengage the attenuating crash cushion. Foldable options such as the Safe Stop 180 will fold in half so that the attenuator is stacked on itself when disengaged. Trailer mounted varieties do not pivot or tilt and are always engaged when attached to a truck.

Road construction attenuator trucks typically have a bed for transporting equipment and an arrowboard or message board to instruct drivers of traffic conditions. Many other equipment options may be necessitated by the environment and conditions including strobe lighting for driver awareness, work lights for night visibility, and equipment racks.

Review a summary of attenuator truck options and equipment.

Comparing Flatbed Access Platforms for Fall Protection

Safety & Numbers blog sponsor Innovative Access Solutions, LLC produces portable flatbed truck access platforms for fall protection safety. The IAS platform is a new and innovative approach compared to other available flatbed fall protection options. With this in mind we are happy to help promote and review the advantages of a lightweight, portable platform as compared to bulky traditional wheeled systems.

Advantages of a Portable Flatbed Access Platform

As mentioned above, the IAS flatbed access platform is an innovative approach to fall protection for loading/unloading, tarping, and maneuvering around flatbed trailers. The platform is composed of lightweight aluminum and equipped with CNC billet mounting hooks, making it ideal for fall protection at offsite locations, on stationary trailers, and where space is limited or time is of the essence. The IAS flatbed access platform is ANSI rated to 3 man / 3,000 lbs making it versatile and durable. IAS platforms also provide a safety rail that is easily removable for convenient stow away and mobility. The IAS flatbed access platform is standard at lengths of 4′ and 8′ and can be customized to meet specialized requirements.

Compared to Traditional Flatbed Platform Systems

The majority of available flatbed access platform systems are wheeled or rolling platforms. These systems are ideal in certain applications. Truck fleets with high shipping volume, available space at their facility, and a sizable work force will appreciate the traditional wheeled flatbed access platform system. These systems typically provide space for a truck trailer to pull in between two parallel platforms which sandwich together on each side of the trailer deck. Traditional systems are generally expensive and less flexible.

Choosing the Best Fall Protection Option

When deciding on the best fall protection flatbed access platform for your company’s needs, we recommend considering available capital/workforce, the importance of mobility, and whether a bulky wheeled system will suit your needs. The IAS flatbed access platform is mobile and portable, preventing the need to have a system consuming space at each site. Being lightweight and modular, it is also easier to mount at any location and with fewer available workers. And the IAS flatbed access platform is ideal for specialized applications such as stationary flatbed trailers, contractor truck fleets, and industries including construction, mining and energy.

Choose the 4′ Work Platform with Safety Rail or 8′ Work Platform with Safety Rail

Whichever flatbed access platform you choose, always remember the importance of fall protection risk management even at limited heights. Investing in basic fall protection safety equipment such as a flatbed trailer work platform will ultimately save money and hardship in the long run when compared to workers comp claims, lost worker time, and indirect work injury costs.

Celebrating 15 Years of The Trucker® (…and Still Trucking!)

In 2014 Innovative Access Solutions (IAS®) is excited to celebrate 15 years of The Trucker® Series, made possible by a focus on safety and customer relationships. We would like to thank our loyal customer base for helping us achieve the goal of making The Trucker® an established and respected name in fall protection safety, and we invite you to contact the IAS® sales team to learn more.

The Trucker® Series through the Years

September 1999 — The Trucker I 6900 flatbed trailer ladder introduced

2004: The original Cast Aluminum mounting hooks changed to CNC Billet Aluminum, an ‘unbreakable’ hook that added durability and improved safety to The Trucker I

2007: Roll Tarp Trucker was introduced, designed to provide access to Tarp Trailers

2007-2009: With the brand strengthened as a result of the ‘unbreakable’ mounting hooks and having developed several strong relationships with large established businesses, Trucker® began to take off. Drop Deck Trucker was introduced and the four step ECO Trucker was developed and ANSI rated @ 375 lbs.

2010: The 4 Step Trucker ladder was created for access to crane trucks and taller trailers

2011: As The Trucker® grew, Storage and Mounting Options were developed

Ladder Storage Racks were developed in Upright and Shelf variations
The Utility Trucker was introduced as a mounted ladder option that pivots up 180⁰
A Steel Mounting Bracket was developed for mounting ladders without pockets

2011-2012: Mobile Flatbed Work Platforms with Safety Rails were engineered as a custom product request and became a standard product in use at several Construction, Transportation, and Manufacturing companies

October 2011: The 4’ Platform designed and ANSI rated at 3-Man (3000 lb.)
August 2012: 8’ Work Platform designed and ANSI rated at 3-Man (3000 lb.)

2013: All Trucker Series ladders were ANSI rated at 375 lbs. Type IAA Special Duty, the highest available Extra Heavy Duty rating for specialty ladders

2014: This year The Trucker® Series was granted an official trademark, new products are in development, and we are looking forward to 15 more years and beyond!

Today The Trucker® Series of ladders, storage racks and work platforms is capable of equipping most any truck fleet or stationary truck with fall protection equipment that is convenient, versatile and durable. This growth is in large part a result of relationships with customers that were willing to share their workplace access safety goals.

Celebrate with the 15 Years of Trucker® Promotion

Part of the power of customer relationships comes from a willingness to share the wealth and spread the word. With that in mind, we are offering a 15% Discount off a single Trucker® Ladder or Storage Rack. Simply apply the following Coupon Code prior to September 30, 2014 to join our celebration and save.

Apply COUPON CODE: 15YEARS at The Trucker® Online Store

Mining Industry Ladder Safety

The MSHA (Mining Safety & Health Administration) recently published an excellent summary of ladder safety standards for the mining industry. The MSHA was formed to ‘administer the provisions of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act). MSHA carries out the mandates of the Mine Act at all mining and mineral processing operations in the United States, regardless of size, number of employees, commodity mined, or method of extraction.’

The published document covers all topics and categories related to ladder safety training, from the basics of safe access requirements, requirements for each ladder category and special circumstances such as alternating tread and underground ladders. This blog post will summarize standards related to Fixed Ladders, Mobile Equipment Ladders, and the basics of Access Requirements, Ladder Construction and Maintenance. For complete access to this valuable MSHA resource, mining professionals are encouraged to download the Mining Ladder Safety Standards PDF.

Safe Access & Construction and Maintenance

The MSHA standards document provides a detailed summary of possible mining ladder safety citations complete with images of compliant and non-compliant ladders. In addition to common sense factors such as the condition and strength of a ladder, factors such as the height of the bottom rung, the width of the ladder uprights, ladders that require workers to climb over obstructions to mount or unmount, and other potential fall hazards are described. In some cases personal fall protection equipment such as lanyards and harnesses may also be required.

Fixed Ladders

Fixed ladders have been assigned highly detailed requirements specific to the application. In many cases, safety measures such as landings, backguards, and protection for openings at the upper level are required. To review these complex standards, we recommend reviewing the Mining Ladder Safety Standards presentation for details.

Mobile Equipment Ladders

“Fixed mobile equipment ladders must comply with applicable fixed ladder standards such as 30 CFR §§ 56/57.11005 and 30 CFR §§ 56/57.11017.”

The details provided in the MSHA ladder standards document are extended to include even standards for mobile equipment ladders. These ladders must be maintained the same as other ladders and when affixed to equipment, fall under the fixed ladder category. The uniqueness of mobile equipment fixed ladders leads to certain exemptions and standards that may also apply to walkways that provide access to operator cabs.

For information about designing custom ladder access solutions for your mining facility, contact Innovative Access Solutions, LLC.

National Work Zone Awareness Week 2014 Promotes Highway Construction Work Zone Safety

Today marks the beginning of National Work Zone Awareness Week 2014. In an effort to reduce accidents, injuries and deaths in highway construction work zones, the American Traffic Safety Services Association designates a week at the beginning of the construction season each year to promote safety initiatives. National Work Zone Awareness week was initiated in 1999 and has been effective at improving the safety of motorists and workers while reducing work zone crashes. This year’s initiative kicks off today, April 7th, 2014, with events being hosted in Seattle, WA.

Work Zone Speeding: A Costly Mistake

This year’s theme focuses on the dangers and risks of speeding through highway construction work zones. “In 2012, 609 workers and motorists were killed in highway work zones nationwide. Approximately 85 percent of those killed in work zones are drivers and their passengers.” Surely speeding played a role in a significant percentage of these accidents.

Events and Information

The National Work Zone Awareness Week 2014 kickoff event will be held on April 8, 2014 at 10 AM in Seattle Washington. The event is hosted on State Route 99 at the Alaska Way Viaduct Replacement Program project. For more information, visit the following websites.

We encourage you to drive safe in support of this worthy cause!