b'HARPUdate Fall Protection By Jeff Baum, SHARPManager Administrative Fallsby far the leading causeturned b loyee waswou put you inposition ofareack, the emp ldthehavof fata ties and catastrophes ingone.foreman looked overing violated aral court order if li theThefedeconstructionbusiness.F 1992the edge of the roof andtheyoudon\'t"fulfill all of y r obligaromsawou999,weretotaltheret wa nderree t, through 1 thereaofemployee onconc elktionsu theag men which 2,660 d related to falls. Therebelow.T victimwastrans could result incharges. eathshecriminal were al of1 nonfatal fallsported to thetal, wh heWhen oneof your employ is tota 36, 55hospi ereees in 1 alone. If youinclude thelater d from injuriessus in lvedinan ac d t,money 999iedvo ci ennumber of nonfatal fa s, there weretained in the fall.leaves y ret. T are "direct ll ou pock here roughly 253, falls in thecon OSHA n that ifemployeecosts" you may feel right away, such 085otedthe structionind from1992tohadproperly trained, heldas m ical fees,kers compensaustrybeenwou ed wor999 em eases, 1 .haveclearly advisedhis foremantionpr iumincr OSHA To combatOSHA has issuedb he retu to work onthefines, and perhaps legallawsuit this,eforernedfees, aof standa rules a reg other side of the safetyline.judgments, or even criminalincarmyriadrds,ndwarning u tions thatm beu dA per a ing as amonitorc You may less easily measla ustnderstoo sonct safetyeration. and complied with.anp must pay c se attention to the pure the "indir tsu time Asem loyer,lo er ec costs,"ch as you are responsible u the Occu son they are monitoring,not belost due to replacement and training nderand eal uti en pationalSafetyand H th Act todistracted by other d es wh the OSHA recentlyprovidea workplacefreefromfallperson they a watch crosses the reing hazardsthathavethepotentialtosafety lin Thesafetymon ing e.itorreported that itcausedeath orseriousphysicalmethod is p e tonr thron huma erro at harmyour employees.essence,may r ult in death or injury, so it is will be taking atoInesthese governm regulationshavevital that you instill properits in enthabharder line onchargeduunderstan ng andall w k by providingperiodic yo withdi or ers serious accidentrotect ssionscomplying with fall p ion stan training se . dards.Although it may seemtime-concases and willfulOSHA issues aiodic newslet su andsometimes con ing, per mingfustercalled"Disaster Facts," whichfollowingOSHAregulationsw l ilcitations.includes stories about roofers whoprovidetangible benefits. E ymplofelltotheir deathor severeinjuryees areassets, and p cting yourroteevery month. Here is an excerpt fromthem w save you money. ill recentermore,enaissue:Furth OSHArec tly Aroofingcompanywasreported that it wibe taking a ha r 11rdecontracted tosections ofline on serious accident cases and repair the roof. Th was atorywillful citations.When th situaisone-s ese commercialbuildingw h ations arise,w notwilling it OSHAillbe ground-to-eaveheightof15to significantly redu penalties tosomeoneelse,lostproductivity, ce feet. It was a low-slopedroofse eIn the past, willful casesred crewmorale,andother ttl cases.uced with a one-foot high parapet.have been settledas low as 20%costs associated with the incon nforveT rewerewarninglinesof the original penalty- that willienceof dealingwith injuriesand hearoundtheperimeter and thechange. Youw lneedanestab those a ected by them. il fffor was acting as spotterlish and documented safety-train E ifut lucky andne emanedvenyo ge no of foremployee. The employeeing program incesuccessfullyyour employeessu an inju , thepla toffersryhadbeenusinga roof cutternegotiateareductioninOSHAyou stillthe risk of be the-runingtaroutsidethe warninglines.Hepenalties of any sig ficance. Also,get ofOSHA inspectio In ni ann.confin hed thecut, camebackOSHA has proposedrequiring set struction, andmore particula in is rly inside the warninglines,andtlement agre n in such c toroofing, fall prot ion compliance eme tsasesectwas talking to the foreman. T requireas an employer,havewillbe amongthefirst thin an, heyou,togs foreman turned away for a acourt adopt the agreementOSHA inspec r will e ine. If tr" cou federalto xample of sec andwhenhein the formant order. T sContinued on page 14 ondsofconse hi'