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On my carpenters website I emphasize construction safety online and have WCB and OSHA fall arrest and fall restraint information and regulations as well as fall protection guidelines. I have just put up a printable site specific fall protection plan, and hope to put up a tailgate daily safety meeting form soon.
When you click on look for “Local 2300 on film.” It shows suspended scaffold photos I took on the job last week, and it will be obvious why I am concerned with safe work procedures.
If anyone has any safety forms that could be added or linked to please email me, [email protected].
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Nice looking site Dave. I'll read more when time permits. Do you BC types run into agressive enforcement on residential site safety?
-gwc
*George I'm afraid that OSA is now starting to look at housing construction and has started to press the issue with fall protection. So start looking for full body harness for all work over 6 foot.
*I used to be a rock climber. I love ropes and harnesses. When I was a little kid, my Dad used to put a harness on me and hoist me up the mast of our sloop so I could mess with the rigging. I've tried to design a system of fall arrest for residential construction and I just can't come up with a workable system. A lot of the parts that I decided that I would need are now available, but I still can't figure out a system that won't slow down my production significantly.Sheathing a roof for example. Where do you tie off? Where do you attach a harness so it won't interfere with leaning down over the edge of the roof to grab a sheet and swinging it around 180 degrees to be above you where you need it? How do you avoid getting the rope tangled in your plywood? I suppose you could stretch a cable across the length of the ridge and clip a retractable line on a carabeener to your back, but the line is still going to get in the way when you swing that sheet.It seems that introducing safety lines really makes you re-think your procedures. And I can't come up with a better systen than toe boards and fearlessness. If it makes you nervous, don't do it. You will probably fall. If it doesn't make you nervous, BE CAREFUL. Personaly, I always choose my landing spot when I get up there. One less thing to think about when your butt hits the roof.Of course, this is a lot different than your pictures show. It seems like those guys could easily clip on to a main wire and be quite mobile. No plywood, just rivets, bolts and torches right?Dan
*Dan agree with your post and think that with all this safety equiment that it helps add to the problems. Any body else think this????
*Dan, Oregon OSHA has Adobe acrobat downloads for many phases of construction fall protection from roof sheathing to conc. forms to structural steel at http://www.cbs.state.or.us/external/osha/standards/pub.htm We lowered 120 sheets of 3/4 plywood to the suspended scaffold working deck-tho' I did lose one into the river during a sudden hail and lightning storm last week.More photos soon, now we're wrapping the whole bridge in poly for water blasting and 17% lead-based paint recovery. The water has come up 6 feet this week as flooding starts and the current is quite fast-ain't no place to land lately. Also I had the honor of trimming the rafter ends and had to catch each piece as only "native" material is allowed to fall into the river, the fall distance was 70 feet. We chalked the plywood 'near miss' up as a test of the rescue-recovery plan. We weren't able to recover the plywood but some downstream fisherman was running for his pickup last we checked. Next time you visit our site click on fall arrest
*Bill, not quite apropos, but I saw a great ad last year in Fine Woodworking, "If you're not using a filter, you are one." The whole point of the site specific fall protection plan is that if conventional safety gear is part of the problem then you can design a specific plan tailored to a specific work site; see OSHA guidelines for details or go to Google search. I have both on the website.
*Bill, a couple of month's back I attended a State O' Maine sponsored OSHA safety "meet and greet"... we got certificates, questions answered, and generalisms. The idea is to have a safety device for all hazards. Trench boxes for trenches, hard hats, respirators, fall arresting gear, fire extinguishers, first aid kits, etc... It's the "etc..." and definitions that will get you.The Nickle Tour: 1) Have a safety plan. 2) Have safety training. 3) Have Safety Equipment. 4) Keep records of your plan, updates, training, equipment purchases, equipment testing or inspection, and records of your records, certificates, violations, inspections, etc....An Important Item: As a General Contractor, or as a Contractor with Subs, Trades, and /or employees... YOU are the responsible party to ENSURE COMPLIANCE to all applicable codes.An example: You retain a licensed plumber to run supplies and waste for a bathroom remodel. He supplies an electric drill and powercord for his use.The cord on the tool is frayed, the plug on the extension has the grounding lug removed. Who's the violator on this jobsite... The Plumber or You the Contractor? See the paragraph above for the answer in italics.
*Thanks Dave, I'll have a look...
*Does OSHA expect you to inspect all of your sub's equipment? And don't all plumber's power tools look like that? :)
*Andrew, the exact same question was asked at the seminar... we all chuckled. The OSHA Enforcement Officer replied: "Yes." He wasn't laughing."It's your site, it's your responsibility. You can enforce OSHA compliance, or We (OSHA) can. Our way is much more expensive. Your first $7000.00 (US) fine will convey the message clearly."
*Does everybody have ground fault protection on/for all their portable power tools? You better, starting "yesterday". And it better be used, not new and shiny in the tool bin. Where's your GFCI tester? Keeping records of testing?Popping a few Tums*? For the Calcium no doubt.>* a popular trademarked calcium carbonate tablet for stomach ailments. (Not all of you are US product savvy.)
*The thought of wearing a harness on a roof really annoys me.It sounds like another well meaning regulation that becomes counter productive in the long run.you have to free climb to the top of the roof to attach the safety line and if you are safe enough free climbing for that operation what do you need the leash(I mean line) for anyhow?The presence of air hoses on the roof gives enough things to trip over without adding a bunch of ropes to further complicate things.Some things are just inherently risky and trying to remove one risk may easily add another new,but unforseen risk.(better the devil you know)Some things that would be fairly safe for an experienced roofer or framer to do could be very dangerous for someone else.Wouldn't it be better to leave the risky things for people who accept the risks involved ,and let them use their own judgement?I accepted long ago the fact that one day I will fall.That is the price we pay not to have to work in a %$#@#$%&* office.To each,his own.... Stephen
*Don't tell me you need GFCI's everywhere... As for the shiny GFCI, well ... it's the replacement one.Don't forget you don't have to self-incriminate, and NEVER volunteer information (let alone make a joke!). OSHA sounds like another name for FAA.
*Stephen - if you think thats bad, consider this. I design theatres for a living. Fronts of balconies in theatres and upper decks in stadia are permitted by most building and fire codes to have lower than usual guards or railings because of sightlines - like as low as 26" versus 42". But, the people that buy a ticket and sit there are not protected by OSHA. However, the guy who sweeps or polishes the bras in a theatres or hawks beer or cleans in a stadiaa is protected by OSHA. SO now I have to design in attachment points for a cable to which the worker attaches his or her lanyard from his or her harness.So don't sit in the front row if you want the beer served. And thank the lawyer who dreamt
*Two guys died last summer at the University of Montana Theater. A major construction company was doing the renovations to the lighting above the stage. These guys were atop nine sections of scaffolding and were wheeling it over a few feet.The scaffold tumbled.
*Thanks. I will print and add that one to my collection - though not particularily relevant to the use of the room. I know construction is dangerous - but it seems like there have been a lot of deaths on the 50 or so projects I've been closely involved with.
*I think that the whole job safety thing is a bit overboard. One who wishes to work in the trades, understands and accepts the inherent risks.I will, however, encourage guys to wear safety glasses, dust masks and exercise the use of other safety gear and measures when conditions warrant so. I do not care for being held responsible for guys who do not wear safety glasses or fail to keep them on after they have been told to wear them. I was fined once for this, by OSHA as well as for not providing Haz Mat documentation for cedar siding that was being cut and for not tying of a ladder that I had going to the peak of an attached garage roof.Now I know there are a slew of you reading this and asking "what does Pete consider a proper condition for using safety equipment". Well for example, if one was scraping loose paint from a porch ceiling, I would have him wear safety glasses but wouldn't insist they wear them while using a circualr saw. I would say, "you better get a dust mask on before you tear out those old walls" but wouldn't worry much about a guy painting with a roller indoors without one.It's funny about all the safety rules on a construction site but police departments are not required to provide bullet-proof vests for police officers.Pete Draganic
*Steve, as was mentioned above, a "site specific safety plan" is needed. You can choose a harness, guard railing, nets, whatever... as long as the standard is met. OSHA standards are written in a broad sense, with little in specifics available. That means loose interpretation, with "Opinions of the Director" having the weight of law. With luck, the Inspector will be a "real world" kind of guy...and will look to see if the spirit of the law is being applied. Are you running a safe site? Of course the other type of Inspector, the one equipped with the latest in Case Law or an Opinion of the Director released this morning, can make life a living hell. "You didn't know about this standard?"(That's a violation too.)
*George, very aggressive though sporadic. On union jobs we expect WCB inspectors and each worker must be able to describe the company's fall protection plan. On non-union residential the inspectors are rarely around when they should be, but do levy stiff fines to worker and employer; they use binocs and cameras and then hit the site. Most roof work now complies with current regs as companies get the message.Your reply about site specific safety plans is well stated, thanks for elaborating on the process for custom designed fall protection documents.
*Last year Osha paid us a visit. I had two guys on the job and I wasn't there. We were the framing contractor on a very poorly run job. The job was a 6000 s. f duplex at the very end of a development. We had been off the job for about 3 weeks and my guys came back to finish building a roof covering for an entry. The piers were poured a day before we went back. Around 10am my guys noticed they were being filmed. Occasionally the bank will come by and take pictures. This time it wasn't the bank. I pulled up just as the osha guy and lady walked up. They were both wearing hard hats and tool belts. In the 15 years I have been in construction I have never seen osha. I thought they only went to commercial work.Osha was attracted to our job for a number of reasons.1. There were about 15 cars on the street. (more people to bust)2. The roofers were working with ropes but they were unhooked about half the time.3. My guys had two sectionsof staging set up in the front of the house about 12' high.4. The job was a mess of materials and people working in each others way.5. The guard rails were pulled off of door openings where people could fall.We were written up for violations for not having a competent person on site setting up the staging, no guard rails and working on unsafe staging. The inspector didn't seem to care about no hard hats or leather boots. If I had given him any more of a bad time than I had I'm sure he would have checked all the cords, tools, safety glasses and railings inside the building. We got fined and the roofer got fined. The G.C was out of town. He never heard from osha.After the osha we had a safety profesional give us the 10hour safety course. After this course you can tell osha that you are competent. My partner and I took the course and paid two employees to take the course. We then bought personal fall protection for everyone. The class and the new equipment cost more than the Osha fine.I look at the osha mess we were in as a wake up call and a cost of doing business. We needed to become safer on some items(who doesn't). Now we are tied in on most of the high work, especially on a very visible side. It is impossible to follow the rules completey. Now when I see someone pull up and watch us work we stop. I go see who it is. Osha is in my area more now than ever so I need to be very careful.
*Regarding regulation in general -- I casually know about a half-dozen life-changing fall stories, crippling injuries that the person has to think about every day for the rest of their lives. Does OSHA etc. on balance help prevent these, or are they more caught up in acting pompous? This is subjective of course. I'm sure no one likes being lectured by some regulator -- but do you think they're getting the fly-by-nites that DO need lectures & fines?I asking from the Washington DC perspective.
*Hello old buddies, I'm back.Fall protection is a must for some types of jobs. But it is not required for residential because it has been found that the rigging of nets, harnesses, and guardrails can be more dangerous than the actual work itself!In its place, a safety plan must be made out for each jobsite, and explained to each worker.It's basically the same thing I was taught the first day I ascended the first house.Now government workers, getting fat on my tax dollars are telling me that my job is too dangerous, despite the fact that I have never had a guy injured from a fall. And I'm not crossing my figures and hoping. I just demand that all workers use common sense.And if a huge beam happens to hit a white hard hat when he hits the front ramp, bonus's will be paid! Just kidding! If the government is truly interested in our workers to be safe, they should send someone to put the roof on for us. If they are not interested in that, then they should stay off the job, and let the real men do their thing. If they think that we will affect their actuarial tables, then allow us to opt out of their system. I would opt out immedieately. I don't need their ss, wc, unemployment, nor their techical rules. They need them!Anyways, put the double toe board on the bottom. It's a good toolholder, it helps to keep other materials handy too. Don't let anyone work under you. Write basically all that down on a paper, and have a meeting each job, and you will be legal.Whoopdee doo!When osha shuts me down with teir fines, I'm opening up in my wifes name. New comp rates, new wc record, new everything.After they get me again, I'll have to find a chump to take me in. It won't be hard.And I still won't be wearing harness's and using saw guards.And I will die happy and free, unlike most of the ulcer-ridden worry warts of our time.bluePs When the white hat shows up, explain that you have spent all morning creating safty hazards as part of you safty training class, and that you are about to walk the crew around looking to identfy them. Invite him to walk the site and you can test him too! Explain that you will then be teaching the crew how to correct all violations.
*Oh you blue eyed devil; be careful aiming at white hats, here you'd just get a bunch of engineers and architects. WCB shows up in orange with visors and ear phones, and I'd hate to nail a logger by mistake. In Ontario 20 years ago the warning call was sounded for blue hats. Gotta give you credit tho', you've got the safety plan on the job and that's what's important.
*I didn't say i Actually write one!I do practice most common sense things, but it is definetly streamlined for me, and my guysOsha would force my workers to wear steel toed shoes on the roof. No one does that. One of my guys has to wear gym shoes. I know if I forced him to wear work shoes up there, he'd fall. I need to wear my everyday work shoes (9" or 11") to feel comfortable. If some osha dude wants to make me wear something else, then he should wear what I weant him to wear. It's pretty obvious to most, that when the government gets the power to tell individuals what to do, the system fails.Remember the russians feeding loaves of bread to their cows, because raw grain was more expensive than baked bread? That's what would happen to houses when the government devises the best way to build them.Get reasy for million dollar shoeboxes, and lots of government housing projects to fix the housing shortages.F Osha!Just use common sense!Bluey