Preparing to Prevent Falls
Fall Protection Program
A construction fall protection program is what you and your coworkers do to prevent falls on construction sites. But every fall protection program looks different, and not all programs are successful.
What makes a successful fall protection program?
Every formal fall protection program contains at least seven elements:
- Commitment: All employees - including company executive officers, managers, and supervisors - are committed to making the program succeed.
- Accountability: All employees - including company executive officers, managers, and supervisors - are held accountable for following safe work practices.
- Involvement: All employees, including managers and supervisors, participate in making the program succeed.
- Hazard identification: All employees are trained to identify hazards, and there are procedures for conducting hazard inspections and reporting hazards.
- Accident investigation: Managers and supervisors promptly investigate all accidents and near misses and then determine how to eliminate their causes.
- Training: All employees receive training in identifying construction worksite hazards and learning safe work practices. This program element most often inspected and cited by OSHA is training. Why? Because they know it is the element most likely to have violations.
- Evaluation: Managers and supervisors, with help from other employees, evaluate the program's strengths and weaknesses at least once a year.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
2-1. Which fall protection program element is most likely to be closely inspected and cited by OSHA?
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