More construction workers die from bodily injuries sustained in a fall on the job than in any other kind of work accident. For the past twelve years, employers have continued to ignore the basic fall protection safety regulation more than any other; it remains the most-often cited employer safety violation in the country. Read, Fall Protection on the Job Remains Top OSHA Safety Violation for 12th Straight Year.
In fact, fatal falls in the construction industry are happening so often that in May 2023, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) introduced its first ever “National Emphasis Program,” to fight against deadly construction falls. The new OSHA program will even allow spot inspections and the use of drones to try and force greater compliance with safety regulations designed to keep construction workers safe from falls on the work site. For more, read: Fighting Fatal Falls on the Job: OSHA’s First National Emphasis Program.
Preventing Construction Falls: Employers Know What to Do to Keep Workers Safe
Employers and their insurance carriers are not ignorant in the dangers facing workers on any construction site. The fact that over a third of all fatal construction worker deaths are the result of falls has been the sad reality for several years now.
The ways and means to protect construction workers from these fall accidents is also well known to everyone involved in the construction industry. Both safety regulations and industrial standards make it very clear, in great detail, what employers are to do on worksites to protect workers from falling and getting hurt or killed.
Here is a list of some, not all, of the safety regulations that apply to workers in the construction industry of Indiana and Illinois, as provided in Appendix B to the online OSHA Technical Manual for Construction Operations:
29 CFR 1926.104, safety belts, lifelines, and lanyards
29 CFR 1926.105, safety nets
29 CFR 1926.451, general requirements (scaffolding)
29 CFR 1926.452, additional requirements applicable to specific types of scaffolds
29 CFR 1926.453, aerial lifts
29 CFR 1926.454, training requirements (scaffolding)
29 CFR 1926.501, duty to have fall protection
29 CFR 1926.502, fall protection systems criteria and practices
29 CFR 1926.503, training requirements (fall protection)
29 CFR 1926.760, fall protection (steel erection)
29 CFR 1926.800, underground construction
29 CFR 1926.954, electric power transmission and distribution (personal protective equipment)
29 CFR 1926.1051, general requirements (stairways and ladders)
29 CFR 1926.1052, stairways
29 CFR 1926.1053, ladders
29 CFR 1926.1060, training requirements (stairways and ladders)
29 CFR 1926.1423, cranes and derricks in construction (fall protection).
Common Construction Fall Protection: Is This Being Provided on Your Site?
Regulation of the construction industry is complex and designed to provide protection in a variety of construction sites, where fall protection needs may not be the same. Each construction site comes with its own particular fall hazards which the employer should have studied and addressed before work began.
Construction workers in Indiana and Illinois, knowing that fatal falls are the greatest danger they face with the most-often cited failure in safety compliance, should be alert on the site for fall protection safety failures.
Among the most common construction fall safety protections to be provided are the following:
1. Body Harnesses for Construction Workers on Task at Heights at or Over Six Feet
Employers should make sure that any construction worker who is on the job at a height at or over six (6) feet wears a full-body harness.
The harness is not one-size-fits-all. The worker should have a harness that is properly sized for him, with the chest strap at mid-chest and the D-ring in the center of the back. It should never be loose-fitting. The harness must be connected to a point that will hold the worker’s full dangling weight if necessary. This can be an anchor on the job site, a number of anchors, etc.
Harnesses include shoulder straps and leg straps, a sub-pelvic assembly, adjustable buckles or fasteners, and one or more D-rings to connect to a lanyard.
The dorsal D-ring (between the worker’s shoulder blades) is used with a fall arrest system. D-rings in other positions are sometimes included for use with ladder safety devices. For this reason, some harnesses come with D-rings on the front, sides, and lower back.
A safe and effective harness will fit (i.e., be the correct size) and is adjusted so that all straps are snug (see Figure 15). Dangling leg straps or arm straps are signs that the harness is not being worn correctly. The sub-pelvic assembly transfers the forces during a fall or suspension to the worker’s sub-pelvic region.
Although adjustable, some models come in different sizes and may be gender specific.
2. Guardrails for Construction Workers
The type of guardrail to be provided for construction worker fall protection will depend upon the job site’s unique characteristics. From OSHA, all guardrails must have the following characteristics at a minimum to be effective fall protection on the construction site:
- A surface that is smooth and free from burrs to prevent punctures and lacerations and to prevent snagging of clothing (see 29 CFR 1926.502(b)(6)).
- Top rails and midrails that are at least 1/4 inch in diameter (see 29 CFR 1926.502(b)(9)).
- Strength to withstand at least 200 pounds applied within 2 inches of the top edge in any outward or downward direction (see 29 CFR 1926.502(b)(3)).
- A top rail between 39 and 45 inches from the working level, raised as necessary to account for workers using stilts or otherwise working in an elevated location above the work surface (see 29 CFR 1926.502(b)(1)).
- Midrails (or equivalent structural members) that withstand at least 150 pounds of force in the downward or outward direction (see 29 CFR 1926.502(b)(5)).
- A midrail, mesh, screen, or equivalent intermediate structural members installed between the guardrail system top edge and the walking/working surface when there is no wall or parapet wall at least 21 inches high (see 29 CFR 1926.502(b)(2)).
- Intermediate members (such as balusters), when used between posts, that are not more than 19 inches apart (see 29 CFR 1926.502(b)(2)(iii)).
- Flags made of high visibility material every 6 feet if wire rope is used for top rails (see 29 CFR 1926.502(b)(9)).
Moreover, OSHA is clear to point out that effective guardrail systems will not have:
- Guardrails that deflect to lower than 39 inches above the working surface when 200 pounds of pressure are applied in a downward direction (see 29 CFR 1926.502(b)(4)); and
- Top rails and midrails that overhang terminal posts to constitute a projection hazard (see 29 CFR 1926.502(b)(7)).
If a construction worker is asked to work in a worksite without guardrails or with improper railing, then the employer and others with a duty of care for that site are jeopardizing that worker with the real risk of a catastrophic or deadly fall.
3. Safety Nets
According to OSHA, safety net systems protect construction workers who are required to work from any elevated height with a hazardous vertical drop. They are not allowed for heights in excess of thirty (30) feet.
Safety nets are usually seen in infrastructure construction projects like bridges or in the building, demolition, or revitalization of large structures like office buildings. Safety nets work together as a safety system. They should be appropriate to the worksite where they are used; for instance, safety nets that will be in full sun should always be resistant to ultraviolet deterioration.
Technically, safety nets are not preventing falls, but preventing bodily injury if a worker does fall on the worksite. These nets catch the worker and keep them from suffering physical harm from the fall itself. However, improper nets may not stop that fall injury, and they can cause serious bodily injuries to a worker independent of the fall itself.
4. Hole Covers
Deadly falls do not just happen from roofs, scaffolds, or beams. Many construction sites have severe fall hazards at ground level, where holes or openings (e.g., sewers, skylights, or elevator shafts) pose great dangers to workers on the job site.
All of these holes should be covered with sufficient strength that more than one construction worker can walk across them without risk. The weight of materials on the site must be considered here, as well, and calculated into the proper cover for the particular hazard. Edges should be protected against tripping or inadvertent movement or shifting of the cover.
According to OSHA, a “hole” is “a gap or void 2 inches or more in its least dimension in a floor, roof, deck, or other walking/working surface” that is hazardous because, among other things, workers can fall through the hole (see 29 CFR 1926.501(b)(4)(i)).
The following types of holes are commonly found at construction worksites:
- Holes cut (or constructed) in floors to receive equipment or ducts and for future access points (e.g., openings for stairs that will be installed later);
- Holes cut in roofs in preparation for installing skylights, ventilation units, and other features or equipment;
- Excavations for pits, wells, or shafts (e.g., caissons);
- Excavations or cuts in roadways.
5. Inspection, Maintenance, Repair: Construction Site Housekeeping
The construction worker must be able to rely upon employers and others with a duty of care for that workplace not only to provide proper fall protection but to inspect it routinely, maintaining, repairing, or replacing it as necessary.
Housekeeping duties involving inspection of worker harnesses, for instance, should be done on a daily basis. If there is a crack in a D-ring; loose threads; or broken hooks, then no worker should be allowed to wear that harness. It should be pulled and replaced.
Justice for Construction Workers Hurt in a Fall on the Construction Site
Safety regulations for the construction industry are designed to keep construction workers, no matter their particular trade, safe from a fall accident on the job site. OSHA regulations mandate that all those with a duty of care on a construction site not only provide working conditions that are free from known dangers and risks, like a faulty hole cover, but that proper personal protective equipment be provided to workers on the site. Safety training of construction workers, so they understand fall dangers and fall protection safety, is also mandated.
Nevertheless, far too many construction workers fall to their deaths each year in this country in a preventable fall accident on the job site. When this happens, both state and federal law provide avenues for justice to that deceased worker-victim and grieving loved ones. Employers as well as third parties may have legal liability for what has transpired to cause the deadly fall.
For more, read:
- Industrial Housekeeping and Construction Site Accidents
- Fatal Falls in Construction Caused by Employers Failing to Plan for Worker Safety
- Multiple Employers on the Construction Site: Who Is Liable For Construction Worker Accidents?
Construction workers should be kept safe on the job from deadly falls and other hazards. Sadly, working construction is one of the most dangerous lines of work in Illinois and Indiana. Please be careful out there!
