Introduction
Falls remain the number one killer of workers in the construction industry and the number two killer of workers in general industry, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Each year, more than 100,000 disabling injuries and deaths are attributable to work-related falls. Events surrounding these types of accidents often involve a number of factors, including unstable working surfaces, misuse of fall protection equipment, and human error. Studies have shown that the use of fall prevention and fall arrest systems can prevent many deaths and injuries related to falls. Fall protection systems are designed to protect personnel from the risk of falls as well as actual falls when working at elevated heights.
The intent of this course is to inform workers and supervisors about the basics of fall prevention and fall arrest systems when working at elevated heights. The information in this course may provide enough guidance to cope with some issues in the workplace but may lack the necessary information needed to make decisions for the more complex issues found in many situations. Complex issues require the help of trained and certified fall protection professionals.
This course will not cover aerial devices such as cherry pickers, boom trucks, boom lifts, vertical towers, or scissor lifts.