Study: Fall Prevention Works, Even Anchored to Wood Frame
Fall protection on residential construction sites has long been the subject of controversy. Some residential construction firms have argued that that the wood frames and trusses common in homebuilding aren't suitable to safely anchor personal fall arrest systems (PFAS). Adapting the structures to make them suitable would be prohibitively expensive, requiring special engineering services.
Jeremy Bethancourt and Mark Cannon, supported by Â鶹ÊÓƵ, have completed a study that should help workers and contractors breathe easier. Examining more than a dozen case files covering falls and near misses at a Southwestern U.S. frame carpentry firm - one that has been employing fall protection for years - they documented how in each case the PFAS had worked as intended and either averted a fall in the first place or arrested the fall, preventing a serious injury. The authors conclude that today many fall arrest devices are designed to stop a falling worker with less sudden force applied to the worker's body or the anchor point, making it possible to safely tie off to a typical wood-framed structure. It's eminently possible for homebuilders to comply with OSHA standards, and save lives, without expensive custom engineering. In invite you to take a look at in the May 2015 edition of Professional Safety. Pete Stafford
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Concerned about fall prevention? Check out...
- The , an online inventory of fall protection devices suited to residential construction work
- , the online home of the Campaign to Prevent Falls in Construction
- Construction Solutions, Â鶹ÊÓƵ's repository of solutions to common construction hazards such as
- Recent Â鶹ÊÓƵ-supported studies on falls and fall safety by a GWU research team and our own Data Center
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Â鶹ÊÓƵ IN PRINT
Recently Published Journal Articles by Â鶹ÊÓƵ Scholars
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Emily Sparer, Robert Herrick, and Jack Dennerlein. New Solutions, May 2015.
Jeremy Bethancourt and Mark Cannon. Professional Safety, May 2015.
Hester Lipscomb, James Nolan and Dennis Patterson.
American Journal of Industrial Medicine, April 2015.
Laura Welch,
John Dement,
and Gavin West. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, April 2015.
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ISHN, 5/4/2015 
Concrete Contractor, 5/14/2015 |
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Â鶹ÊÓƵ -- Â鶹ÊÓƵ is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created by the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO. Working with partners like you in business, labor, government, and the universities, we strive every day to make work safer for the 9 million men and women who work in the U.S. construction industry!
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