Does your facility have hazards someone could possibly walk into? What about elevated platforms? Do you have any of those?
Are employees using a forklift to stack crates and pallets? Or do you send employees up shelves to break product packages within pallets instead of bringing them down by forklift?
Is there risk of your employees falling into heavy machinery associated with the tasks they are performing?
If the answer to any of these is yes, or even a maybe, then you may want to read on.
The realm of responsibility that goes along with being an employer is huge, so it's probably not a shock to you that you're actually required by law to protect the workers you employ.
When it comes to warehouse fall protection, you’re required to make sure work conditions are reasonably clean and free of blatant dangers. You must also provide personal protective equipment and make sure workers receive fall protection training to avoid or handle the hazards that go along with their respective roles.
What you’re not legally required to do is keep your facility organized, but if you’ve compared injury rates between a facility that clearly prioritizes organization and safety to one that doesn’t, it won’t take you long to figure out which route is the clear no-brainer.
Sometimes fall protection is simple. You probably use some types regularly without even thinking about it, like guard rails on a ladder that leads to high stacked products or safety nets below a loading dock, but for situations where there is a significant threat of falling or risk of injury your employees, you’re going to need some type of fall arrest system.
This is where things get a little less simple; workers don't want to use a body harness -or any PPE for that matter- that isn't comfortable.
When asked, most workers attribute the lack of proper fall protection use to a few common factors: too cumbersome, hot, heavy or just plain hard to work in. The job is hard enough. PPE shouldn't add problems; it's supposed to solve them.
Look for fall arrest systems that are American made for the highest quality. Tailored, woven designs that use lightweight materials with added support through the back and shoulder areas as well as an easily recognizable system to indicate cuts, abrasions and impact loads are the best product for warehouse fall protection.
The Reliance Ironman Lite Harness series hits the nail on the head when it comes to these qualities without sacrificing comfort, ease of use or durability. Reliance fall protection offers options that are painstakingly designed for the hard work your guys (or gals) put in. Ensuring your workers won’t just want to wear it, but they'll also be able to use it the right way.
That's what it's all about, right? A little knowledge, the right PPE that a worker is comfortable in and knows how to use correctly and everyone makes it home in time for the game. No job is worth a worker's life. Yet, the staggering statistics regarding fatalities from falls remain high every year.
These types of preventable deaths are literally the epitome of tragedy. So, if you're asking yourself "Do I need fall protection?" take the answer seriously. Get fall protection under control in your warehouse with the right PPE.
