Fall Protection & Prevention

CHASSE Building Team and Trade Partners will determine if the walking/working surfaces on which its employees are to work have the strength and structural integrity to support employees safely

CHASSE Building Team and Trade Partners will ensure that each employee has been trained, as necessary, by a competent person qualified in the following areas:

(1) The nature of fall hazards in the work area;

(2) The correct procedures for erecting, maintaining, disassembling, and inspecting the fall protection systems to be used;

(3) The use and operation of guardrail systems, personal fall arrest systems, safety net systems, warning line systems, safety monitoring systems, controlled access zones, and other protection to be used;

(4) The correct procedures for the handling and storage of equipment and materials and the erection of overhead protection; and

(5) The role of employees in fall protection plans.

(6) Personal fall arrest systems and components subjected to impact loading will be immediately removed from service and will not be used again for employee protection until inspected and determined by a competent person to be undamaged and suitable for reuse.

. Personal fall arrest systems and their use will comply with the provisions set forth below.

A. Connectors will be drop forged, pressed or formed steel, or made of equivalent materials.

B. Connectors will have a corrosion-resistant finish, and all surfaces and edges will be smooth to prevent damage to interfacing parts of the system.

C. Dee-rings and Snap hooks will have a minimum tensile strength of 5,000 pounds.

D. Dee-rings and Snap hooks will be proof-tested to a minimum tensile load of 3,600 pounds without cracking, breaking, or taking permanent deformation.

E. Snap hooks will be sized to be compatible with the member to which they are connected to prevent unintentional disengagement of the snap hook by depression of the snap hook keeper by the connected member, or will be a locking type snap hook designed and used to prevent disengagement of the snap hook by the contact of the snap hook keeper by the connected member. Effective January 1, 1998, only locking type Snap hooks will be used.

F. On suspended scaffolds or similar work platforms with horizontal lifelines which may become vertical lifelines, the devices used to connect to a horizontal lifeline will be capable of locking in both directions on the lifeline.

G. Horizontal lifelines will be designed, installed, and used, under the supervision of a qualified person, as part of a complete personal fall arrest system, which maintains a safety factor of at least two.

H. Lanyards and vertical lifelines will have a minimum breaking strength of 5,000 pounds.

I. Lifelines will be protected against being cut or abraded.

J. Anchorages used for attachment of personal fall arrest equipment will be independent of any anchorage being used to support or suspend platforms and capable of supporting at least 5,000 pounds per employee attached, or will be designed, installed, and used as follows:

(1) as part of a complete personal fall arrest system which maintains a safety factor of at least two; and

(2) under the supervision of a qualified person.

K. Harnesses, and components will be used only for employee protection (as part of a personal fall arrest system or positioning device system) and not to hoist materials.

P. The employer will provide for prompt rescue of employees in the event of a fall or will assure that employees are able to rescue themselves.

Q. Personal fall arrest systems will be inspected prior to each use for wear, damage and other deterioration, and defective components will be removed from service.

Personal fall arrest systems, when stopping a fall, will:

(1) limit maximum arresting force on an employee to 1,800 pounds when used with a body harness;

(2) be rigged such that an employee can neither free fall more than 6 feet, nor contact any lower level;

(3) bring an employee to a complete stop and limit maximum deceleration distance an employee travels to 3.5 feet (1.07 m); and,

(4) have sufficient strength to withstand twice the potential impact energy of an employee free falling a distance of 6 feet, or the free fall distance permitted by the system, whichever is less.

(5) self-retracting lifelines and lanyards which automatically limit free fall distance to 2 feet or less will be capable of sustaining a minimum tensile load of 3,000 pounds applied to the device with the lifeline or lanyard in the fully extended position.

(6) Self-retracting lifelines and lanyards which do not limit free fall distance to 2 feet or less, ripstitch lanyards, and tearing and deforming lanyards will be capable of sustaining a minimum tensile load of 5,000 pounds applied to the device with the lifeline or lanyard in the fully extended position.

Guardrail systems and their use will comply with the following provisions:

A. Top edge height of top rails will be 42 inches plus or minus 3 inches above the walking/working level. When conditions warrant, the height of the top edge may exceed the 45-inch height, provided the guardrail system meets all other criteria of this paragraph.

B. When Trade Partners are using stilts, the top edge height of the top rail will be increased an amount equal to the height of the stilts.

C. Midrails, screens, mesh, intermediate vertical members, or equivalent intermediate structural members will be installed between the top edge of the guardrail system and the walking/working surface when there is no wall or parapet wall at least 21 inches high.

D. Midrails will be installed at a height midway between the top edge of the guardrail system and the walking/working level.

E. Screens and mesh, when used, will extend from the top rail to the walking/working level and along the entire opening between top rail supports.

F. Intermediate members (such as balusters), when used between posts, will be not more than 19 inches apart.

G. Other structural members (such as additional midrails and architectural panels) will be installed such that there are no openings in the guardrail system that are more than 19 inches wide.

H. Guardrail systems will be capable of withstanding, without failure, a force of at least 200 pounds applied within 2 inches of the top edge, in any outward or downward direction, at any point along the top edge.

I. Midrails, screens, mesh, intermediate vertical members, solid panels, and equivalent structural members will be capable of withstanding, without failure, a force of at least 150 pounds applied in any downward or outward direction at any point along the midrail or other member.

J. Guardrail systems will be so surfaced as to prevent injury to an employee from punctures or lacerations, and to prevent snagging of clothing.

K. Top rails and midrails will be at least one-quarter inch nominal diameter or thickness to prevent cuts and lacerations. If wire rope is used for top rails, it will be flagged at not more than 6-foot intervals with high-visibility material.

L. When guardrail systems are used at hoisting areas, a chain, gate or removable guardrail section will be placed across the access opening between guardrail sections when hoisting operations are not taking place.

M. When guardrail systems are used at holes, they will be erected on all unprotected sides or edges of the hole.

N. When guardrail systems are used around holes used for the passage of materials, the hole will have not more than two sides provided with removable guardrail sections to allow the passage of materials. When the hole is not in use, it will be closed over with a cover, or a guardrail system will be provided along all unprotected sides or edges.

O. When guardrail systems are used around holes which are used as points of access (such as ladderways), they will be provided with a gate, or be so offset that a person cannot walk directly into the hole.

P. Guardrail systems used on ramps and runways will be erected along each unprotected side or edge.

Q. Personal fall arrest systems will not be attached to guardrail systems, nor will they be attached to hoists.

When employees are exposed to falling objects, CHASSE Building Team and Trade Partners will have each employee wear a hard hat and will implement one of the following measures:

A. Erect toe boards, screens, or guardrail systems to prevent objects from falling from higher levels; or,

B. Erect a canopy structure and keep potential fall objects far enough from the edge of the higher level so that those objects would not go over the edge if they were accidentally displaced; or,

C. Barricade the area to which objects could fall, prohibit employees from entering the barricaded area, and keep objects that may fall far enough away from the edge of a higher level so that those objects would not go over the edge if they were accidentally displaced.

Covers for holes in floors, roofs, and other walking/working surfaces will meet the following requirements:

(1) Covers located in roadways and vehicular aisles will be capable of supporting, without failure, at least twice the maximum axle load of the largest vehicle expected to cross over the cover.

(2) All other covers will be capable of supporting, without failure, at least twice the weight of employees, equipment, and materials that may be imposed on the cover at any one time.

(3) All covers will be secured when installed so as to prevent accidental displacement by the wind, equipment, or employees.

(4) All covers will be color coded or they shall be marked with the word “HOLE” or “COVER” to provide warning of the hazard.