The best assurances to prevent a fall

RCS Influencer Patrick Cochran says their team discusses safety precautions on  specific job sites and makes sure their team’s fall protection is changed out as needed. 

When onboarding new staff, we have them go through safety training videos. After the videos are completed we follow up with hands-on training and instruction at our shop. Our new hires then go through on-the-job safety training with a major focus on fall protection.  

 All of our field staff are mandated to take OSHA 10, or OSHA 30 training if they do not already have their OSHA cards.  

 Once a year, our team hosts an event with our fall protection manufacturer. We set up the training with the fall protection rep to come out and instruct our staff how to properly wear and use fall protection. We also cover what to do if someone falls off the roof while wearing a fall protection harness. 

When we host these events, we typically make it a half-day where after the training session, our staff meets together with the fall protection manufacturer rep to talk about questions they have about safety and prevention measures.  

As a company we put a heavy emphasis on fall protection at this event. These days of instruction are a great way to get the staff off the roof and have them talking and learning directly from the company that represents the fall protection equipment we use each day. At this event our team is encouraged to ask questions and get hands-on to receive the most value from this experience  

To ensure we stay up to date with fall protection, we also have multiple toolbox talks that specially focus on fall protection with our team throughout the year. In these talks we discuss safety precautions on  specific job sites and make sure our team’s fall protection is changed out as needed.  

 We also conduct quarterly fall protection and safety equipment inspections randomly to ensure all equipment is working and free of any issues.  

 As fall protection ages, we replace the equipment as needed.  Our staff is trained on what to look for and to notify the office of any issues of wear and tear right away.