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Construction Safety - Fall Protection: Employee Training

By Justin Rogers

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Safety and Health Regulations for Construction, employers are required to provide a training program for each employee who could potentially be exposed to fall hazards.

The employer is required to have each employee trained in a number of areas by a competent and qualified person. Employees should be trained in the following areas:

1) the nature of fall hazards within the work area;

2) the proper procedures for erecting, maintaining, disassembling, and inspecting the fall protection systems being used;

3) the use and operation of controlled access zones and guardrail, personal fall arrest, safety net, warning line, and safety monitoring systems;

4) the role of each employee in the safety monitoring system when in use;

5) the limitations on the use of mechanical equipment during the performance of roofing work on low-slope roofs;

6) the proper procedures for handling equipment and materials and proper storage and erection of overhead protection;

7) the employee's role in fall protection plans; and

8) the standards of fall protection outlined in the OSHA Safety and Health Regulations for Construction, Subpart M.

Once an employee has been trained, it is the employer's responsibility to maintain a written certification record of all employees trained. The certification record should contain the employee's name, the dates of the training, and a signature of the person who conducted the training or the employer's signature.

If an employer believes that an employee who has already been trained does not have the required skill and understanding of fall protection standards and procedures, the employer should retrain the employee. Retraining of an employee is also required where there is a change in workplace, where there has been a change in the type of fall protection systems or equipment being used, or where there are inadequacies in an employee's knowledge or use of fall protection systems or equipment indicate that the employee needs retraining.

A number of OSHA area offices offer a variety of informational services, including publications, audiovisual aids, technical advice, and speakers for special engagements. The OSHA Training Institute, located in Des Plaines, IL, provides both basic and advances courses in safety and health for federal and state compliance officers, state consultants, federal agency personnel, and private sector employers, employees, and their representatives.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Justin Rogers

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on July 09, 2008 (boomark / email).