Know more about the elements of an effective fall protection program

The Ontario Ministry of Labour completed a 90-day provincial compliance and enforcement campaign to ensure employers and workers were complying with the regulations laid out in the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). The goal of the campaign, part of the Safe at Work Ontario strategy to strengthen workplace safety, was to promote long-term compliance and decrease injury and fatality rates.

The program is a combination of a written plan that defines the company’s policy, assigns responsibilities and lays out how fall hazards will be addressed, and the company’s implementation of the plan, including ongoing employee education and training.

Analysis. A key step in the development of the plan is a fall hazard analysis. This survey analyzes each fall hazard that will be encountered on a job site, how the hazard will be controlled, and the type of fall protection and rescue equipment to be used when an employee is exposed to the hazard.

Rescue Plan. For every fall hazard that is controlled, a rescue plan must be in place. This will address the procedure and equipment to be used to rescue a fallen worker, and must be specific to each hazard identified in the fall hazard analysis.

The fall protection plan should account for and delegate responsibilities for equipment inspection, record keeping, maintenance, equipment replacement, incident reporting, enforcement, accident investigation and training.

Training. The OHSA requires workers to be adequately trained in the proper use of fall protection equipment. To maximize comprehension, training should be conducted through a combination of classroom and hands-on work.

Non-compliance policy. If compliance continues to be a problem, consider implementing a policy that punishes non-compliance. This policy could range from no-tolerance to a tiered policy with varying consequences after each offense.

Consequences from non-compliance could include dismissal from the job, sending the employee home without pay, asking the employee to pay a fine, or something a bit more creative. Make sure any policy is well-defined, consistently enforced and in line with provincial labour laws.

Developing a fall protection program and ensuring that workers are appropriately trained are the first steps in combating compliance problems in the construction industry. Ontario is also implementing several measures to improve safety on construction sites.