When do you need Fall Protection?

Are you unsure if your project needs fall protection? Read on for a quick guide! The first step to ensuring safety is to understand fall protection and why it’s so vital.

Essentially, fall protection is the provision of safety measures as outlined in standards and regulations (such as OSHA) for maintenance workers, window washers, and others working at heights. These measures can include: horizontal lifelines, guardrails, safety nets, and more (we’ll get into when these are required later).

With falls being one of the top 4 causes of fatalities in construction in the US (CY 2018, Federal OSHA), there is no question that these safety measures need to be taken seriously.

A Fall Protection Breakdown

Fall Protection can be either passive or active. A passive system does not require personal protective equipment or participation from the workers. Guardrails are an excellent example of passive fall protection.

An active system is dynamic, changes as it is used, and requires direct participation from workers. Active fall protection is further broken down into Fall Restraint and Fall Arrest.

Fall Restraint

Fall Restraint systems prevent a fall from occurring. Horizontal Lifelines are an excellent example of this; when maintenance workers work close to a drop (such as near the edge of a rooftop), they are required to tie off to the horizontal lifelines, preventing them from reaching the edge and falling.

Fall Arrest

Fall Arrest systems stop a fall once it has occurred. Safety and tie back anchors are the most common fall arrest solutions. Workers tie off to anchors when working near the roof's edge; thus, if a fall occurs, the anchors will arrest the fall and allow the worker to safely hang for up to 30 minutes or until emergency personnel arrive.

Fall Restrict

Ontario regulations also identify Fall Restricting, which is classified as a type of Fall Arrest system. The difference is that a fall-restricting system is designed to limit a fall to a shorter distance. For example, suppose maintenance work is required right at a roof edge. In that case, a fall-restricting system will provide access to the area by allowing a worker to fall but limiting the distance of the fall to the area near the drop where maintenance is required. In these instances, the system must have a lanyard equipped with a shock absorber to limit the force placed on the worker.

In the US, a fall-restricting system is referred to as fall arrest.

Determining Factors:

In Canada, the factors determining whether fall protection is needed differ by region. Please review our FAQ for more information.

For the United States of America, Fall Protection is needed if any section of the parapet wall is less than 42 inches, and work needs to be conducted within 10 feet of the roof edge.

Fall Restraint systems provide access and egress from hazard zones, described as any area within 2m (6 ft6in) from a drop.

Whether you are an architect, general contractor, or building owner, fall protection is an important concept to remember from the beginning. Ensuring the correct systems are designed for each building requires collaboration between architects, general contractors, building owners, and your fall protection providers.

At Pro-Bel, we engineer, manufacture, supply, and install fall protection systems, but our expertise in industry codes and regulations also provides comprehensive liability protection to all parties involved.

If you have any other questions or require more information on a specific system, get in touch with us!

More on the Blog