Fall protection training is the sharing of skills and knowledge to make working at heights safer. It entails several safety measures to prevent falls from occurring, as well as, being aware of risks and hazards that could cause a fall. Even with all the technological developments in the construction industry, we still face a fundamental challenge that has been around since the first people began working at height: falling. Gravity is a constant hazard in any workplace, and its effects only intensify with an increase in height; with an average distance of 30 feet (10 meters) resulting in fall fatality or severe injury.
Do you want to discuss heavy equipment training programs or inspections? Contact Total Equipment Training.
Who Needs Fall Protection Training?
Falls stand as the leading cause of work-related fatalities in the construction industry. It is thus essential for both site workers and their employers to take precautions against falls, the basis of the establishment of OSHA Fall Protection Regulations fall protection guidelines.
What Does OSHA Mean by Fall Protection Training?
OSHA is the national regulating body of safety and health standards. As such, they have the responsibility of identifying specific fall hazards and coming up with measures to minimize, mitigate, or eliminate them. On top of this, they also establish guidelines for employers and workers to follow to enhance safety, applicable in a wide variety of work situations.
Can You Do Fall Protection Training Using A Video?
Online training programs and videos are available that information on fall protection at several levels. Videos touching on different types of fall protection are available as well, enabling greater focus on tackling the hazards on specific work sites. Total Equipment Training offers both online and site-specific training for fall protection.
Who Can Do Fall Protection Training?
Fall protection training should be administered by an OSHA-certified fall protection trainer. OSHA provides a training and evaluation platform, which when completed successfully, rewards the trainee with certification. In the case where a certified fall protection trainer is unavailable, the employer should seek out sufficient training materials from verified and reliable sources, and recognized, creditable organizations to offer the training.
How Often Is Fall Protection Training Required?
Before having workers deployed at the site, it is advisable to have them go through fall protection training. Any changes that happen on the site, especially those that present fall hazards are another reason to have fall protection training carried out. The base recommendation, however, stands every two years, but this can vary according to the employer’s decision, or if the trainee requests or requires more training to be done.
OSHA has made it a legal obligation to ensure all workplaces have fall-prevention safety measures in place. Read our article on OSHA Fall Protection to learn more.
When Is Fall Protection Training Required?
Fall protection is required wherever workers are carrying out their duties at elevation. It is important to assess the kind of fall protection training needed, and a good guideline is to use these three levels:
Awareness-Level Training:
Being the most basic level of training, it highlights education on fall hazards and how to properly use fall protection equipment. It lacks hands-on practice, making it less in-depth in comparison to other levels.
Authorized-User Training:
This level of training focuses on providing fall protection training that is specific to the type of fall hazards site workers are exposed to.
Competent-Person Training:
This third and highest training level is meant to equip the trainee with skills to address any fall hazard, assess it, and provide a proper resolution.
To learn more about fall protection, contact Total Equipment Training.
How to Tell If My Fall Protection Training Is Approved?
Verification of successfully completing fall protection training is carried out by the employer; who issues a certificate to the trainee. The certificate must include the employee’s name, training date, and the signature of the trainer and/or employer.
Unsure if your fall protection training is approved? Contact us today.
How Can Total Equipment Training Help With Your Fall Protection Training?
Total Equipment Training is a nationally recognized and OSHA-compliant training company equipped with competent and experienced professionals with extensive experience in the heavy equipment industry. We provide training in fall protection, and many other heavy machine operation procedures and safety protocols as well.
With TET’s fall protection training, you can rest assured that the skills learned will be practically applicable, and qualitative, and will open more avenues to gainfully apply skills learned.
