In safety we spend a lot of time focused on what went wrong. All the reports and statistics on incidents, injuries, fatalities and citations intended to motivate us to identify and control hazards. In contrast today’s message is to share a success story recently reported by OSHA in their latest edition of Quicktakes.
Three crewman working for a framing contractor on an apartment project were saved from serious injury (or worse) after falling from the top of the structure on which they were working. Score one for safety! But what makes this story even more compelling is the framing contractor was resistant to using fall protection on this job stating they never use fall protection on residential construction projects.
When the construction management company running the project made fall protection a condition for the framing contractor to do the work, they complied. Shortly after the framing contractor employees were secured to lifelines, the 3 men fell.
The insistence by construction management company’s safety team leader both potentially saved the lives of three people, it also convinced the framing contractor to ensure that employees have adequate fall protection on future jobs. Another score for safety.
National Safety Stand Down to Prevent Falls in Construction is scheduled for May 8-12, 2017. Stayed tuned to learn how McCraren Compliance will participate and visit OSHA’s webpage to find out how you can get involved.