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In case you missed our first fall protection training video on the basics of fall protection, you can watch it below.  You can also get a dvd of this video Free for your safety training HERE…  Enjoy….

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We are pleased to announce the release of the How To Inspect Your Harness Video.  This little guy will guide you through the steps for inspecting your fall protection harness.  (A task that should be completed whenever you put on your harness.)

This is a great video to show your crew for your next safety meeting, or the next time you visit your grandmother in the nursing home.  If you want this information in paper form check our recent article “Inspecting Your Harness”.  Anywho… enjoy.

Technorati Tags: fall protection, safety harnesses, safety inspection

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“Whenever I’m about to do something, I think ‘would an idiot do that?’  and if they would, I do not do that thing.” -Dwight Schrute-

Our dear Dwight from The Office – surprisingly we all could learn something from him. The following businesses OSHA fined recently certainly could have too.

Here are our top two favorite fines from the past week:

1. Samscreen Inc. in Conklin, NY was again hit with fines. This time more than $100,000 in fines by OSHA adding to the $75,000 in fines from the previous April for similar safety failures of not providing employees with required training. Samcreen Inc is contesting the OSHA findings and said that OSHA is being overzealous.

Christopher Adams, OSHA’s area director in Syracuse said (in regards to the fines in April), ”These sizable fines reflect breadth, severity and recurring nature of these hazards, which expose employees to crushing, laceration, amputation and burns.”

What makes a company ignore OSHA – is it arrogance, incompetence, or something else? Are we missing something here? They had to know that OSHA was going to follow up after the first visit.

2. Imperial Sugar (IPSU) had 8.7 million in total fines for safety violations. That’s the third highest amount in OSHA history. You may remember IPSU’s Port Wentworth refinery being in the news after they had an explosion this past February, killing 13 people and injuring 40. Highly flammable dust is produced in the process of making sugar and that is what led to the explosion.

Imperial Sugar’s VP of Operations testified, “I was surprised that we hadn’t killed anybody already because the plant was so dangerous.” He said he had been told to “back off” after he warned other officials about the dangerous conditions.

Interestingly, five weeks after the February explosion, OSHA inspectors found the same conditions at IPSU’s other sugar processing plant in Louisiana.

This is a photo OSHA inspectors took.  Notice the layer of white stuff, which is combustible dust. OSHA took the unusual step of posting an “imminent danger” notice and issued more fines. This photo is a copy from the report that OSHA published online.

One would think after similar conditions caused an explosion and the death of 13 people that they would made immediate changes at their other plants.

If you have any comments about these recent OSHA fines OR have any good Dwight quotes, share it with us.

Technorati Tags: osha, osha fines, safety

Posted in Fall Protection News by Sassy Safety Glasses Queen. The Sassy Safety Glasses Queen is our resident safety glasses expert. She specializes in the news, trends, and fashions of the Safety Glasses industry while dabbling in the world of fall protection.

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As dumb as it may seem, thousands of construction workers fail to properly put on a fall protection safety harness each day.  Trust me, we’re not making any judgments because know how confusing these awkward webs can truly be.   You shouldn’t have to be a rocket scientist to be safe.  We’ve compiled a list of handy tricks to help you properly put on a harness.  If you don’t wear your harness properly, you can get seriously injured or possibly die.  (We compare it to dancing with a morbidly obese man on ice, one slip and you’re watching your life pass before your eyes with mouth full of flab.)  Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen.  If you don’t like reading, you can watch our new video…

1.  Release All Buckles: The first thing you want do is release all of the buckles.  Nothing makes it harder to see how a fall protection harness should go on when half of the buckles are buckled and the rest are swaying in the wind.  So, release of the buckle, it’ll save you a ton of confusion shortly.

2.  Hold By Dorsal D-Ring: Next grab the dorsal d-ring on your harness.  This would be the giant ring that looks like… well the letter “D.”  This is what will eventually go on your back and attach to your lanyard or  SRL.   Anyway, grab  the dorsal d-ring and shake the harness.  All of the straps and buckles should untangle and hang down.  This makes it easier to see the structure of the harness, and that saves headaches, just like Bayer Aspirin.

3.  Slide Into Shoulder Straps: After you’ve shaken the harness from the dorsal d-ring you should be able to see the shoulder straps branching off.  All you need to do is slide into those, almost like putting on a jacket.  Once the shoulder straps are over your shoulder make sure that there are no tangles in the webbing from the d-ring.  These tangles could cause serious problems later, so make sure the straps are laying flat.  Now would also be the time to make sure that your dorsal d-ring is centered on your upper back across your shoulder blades.

4.  Attach Leg Straps: Once the harness is resting on your shoulders like the weight of the world, reach between your legs….  (We are on a slippery slope here…) You want to grab your leg straps and buckle them.   They should start in the back go through your legs and attach somewhere by your hips, roughly.  This can depend on how girlish your figure is.  Again, as with the shoulder straps you want to make sure there are no tangles in the webbing.  This is not an area of the body you want getting pinched.  Also, if you have a waste buckle or belt, now would be the time to connect it.

5.  Connect the Chest Buckle: Now you’ll work your way up your smokin’ hot body and connect the chest buckle.  This buckle ironically should lay across your chest, no matter how big your moobs might be.  And that’s about it for this step.  Again make sure the strap lays flat and isn’t tangled.  If you your chest buckle is tangled, you may be mentally challenged and probably shouldn’t be working in construction.

6.  Tighten Straps and Secure Connections: The final step is fairly simple, make sure that all of the straps are sung and that all of your connections are secure.  How tight?  Well, the standard text book answer is as tight as you can without restricting movement, but remember it’s a harness and it’s supposed to be tight.  This isn’t like a pair of pants that you can wear a little baggy because it’s more comfortable.  It’s possible to slip out of your harness if it’s not tight enough.  You’ll also want to make sure that all of the extra webbing from the buckle site are tucked into keepers or behind the strap.  The last thing you need is a material appendage waiting to catch on something and cause you to trip.

Now, if you’ve followed the above steps, your harness should be on properly.  I hope it wasn’t to painful for you, and I hope that  thinking about this crucial step in fall protection will increase your awareness while donning a harness.  If you have any questions about this or any other fall protection procedures, products, and performance call Luke from Snug Harness.com Toll Free at (888) 549-1700.

Technorati Tags: fall protection, how to, safety harnesses

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Expedite: [’ek-spe-d?t] to hasten; to accelerate the process; www.snugharness.com

Yep, we’re under the word “expedite” in the dictionary. Yep, we’re that good.  That fast. Your problem is our problem.  Well, the safety and delivery problem/solution.  We can’t help you with your tub grout or coffee addiction, although I could help out with potty training or raisins up the nose, but that’s most likely not why you’re here. You know I like tangents… but let’s stick to what we do best.

“It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no, it’s Super Luke!” Luke is our Fall Protection expert.  He’s smart, fun to tease and puts up with slightly off-centered humor. Like the time I discussed his Care Bear tattoos in product listings (he was okay with that). Or when I salted his coffee… maybe he doesn’t know about that one …yet.

When I am in the office, I get to hear Luke talk on the phone, and he makes things happen.  He knows our manufacturers and he knows which manufacturers are behind, where everyone’s warehouses are located, who’s pokey and who will get it out fast. If he can’t do it, I don’t know who can.

“I might be able to do something, but I can’t promise it.”  Translation:  I am going to call my contacts, the warehouse and kick some *** to see if I can get you what you need faster than fast. Yeah, he’s that good. His calm demure on the phone is just a cover for his fast and furious work.  It’s pretty cool.

Sorry ladies, Luke is taken by a very nice girl who helps me out by changing .tif documents to .jpeg documents. They better not break up.  I foresee a wedding with Johnny Cash’s “Burning Ring of Fire” during the processional. What do ya think?

Technorati Tags: fall protection, snug harness

Posted in Fall Protection News by Sassy Safety Glasses Queen. The Sassy Safety Glasses Queen is our resident safety glasses expert. She specializes in the news, trends, and fashions of the Safety Glasses industry while dabbling in the world of fall protection.

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In a field where accidents can happen in a split second, it’s important to make sure that when those accidents happen your fall protection equipment doesn’t fail you.  What ever do I mean?  I’m referring to equipment inspection, and in this case harness inspection.  You should inspect your harness every time you wear it, just like underwear.  You do inspect your underwear don’t you?  Anyway, we’re going to help by giving you some tips on what to look for.  Without further ado…

Check Your Webbing: The webbing of your fall protection harness is crucial.  Frays, broken fibers, cuts, and pulled stitches can lead to serious injury.  We’ve found that by gripping the webbing with your hands about half a foot apart and moving your hand towards each other it’s possible to bend the webbing into an inverted U-Shape allowing you to more easily identify cuts, tears, frayed edges, burns, and chemical damage.  (The same strategy applies to most body parts). If you find any of the previously mentioned damages, you should discontinue use of that harness.  Unfortunately, it’s difficult to know how that damage react if you fell.  Even if the harness looks okay, it’s very difficult to assess internal damages that can cause serious injury.

Check Your D-Rings: These bad boys shouldn’t be bent, cracked, or have rough or sharp edges.  The d-ring should also pivot freely.  The d-ring is crucially important to any harness and damage here can spell disaster.  If a d-ring were to crack in a fall, you’d hit the ground wearing your harness.  So much for being alive safe.  Also a sharp d-ring can cut through webbing and create another weakness in the harness.

Check Buckle Attachments: You should also be checking where buckles connect to webbing.  These are crucial spots where failures can occur.  You’ll be looking for the same damage as on the harness webbing such as cuts, tears, and frayed fabric.  blah blah blah… These attachments can connect buckles as well as d-rings.

Check Tongue Buckle Grommets: If you have tongue buckles on your harness you’ll want to take a look at the grommets on the tongue to make sure there are no loose, bent, or broken grommets.  The tongue normally receives heavy wear and tear from repeat buckling and unbuckling.  It’s also important to remember that the webbing on the tongue should not have any additional punched holes.  This is dangerous.  If you gain or lose that much weight, you need a new harness.  Jimmy-rigged and damaged grommet holes are poison.  Take it easy tubby!

Check Tongue Buckles: If you have tongue buckles on our harness, make sure that nothing is bent and that everything is working properly.  You should also be concerned with any sharp edges that have the potential to slice through webbing.

Check Mating Buckles: If your harness has mating buckles, it’s important to make sure that both components are straight.  A bent mating buckle can slip out and compromise harness integrity.  Check to be sure the latch is secure.  Again sharp and rough metal edges are an area of concern.

Check Quick Connect Buckles: And for those of you that have fancy quick connect buckles, you to need to check for bent and distorted components.  You also need to make sure that the release mechanism is free of debris and that it connects properly.  A small pebble in this mechanism can cause a world of hurt if not properly checked.  The dual tabs should only release the tooth when pressed at the same time.

I hope these tips have made what to look for while inspecting your harness a little less daunting and doable.  It’s important to inspect your harness before every use, and this is one area you don’t want to take for granted.  It never hurts to be overly cautious.  Being lax with inspections and letting things slide is when injuries and fatalities occur.

Technorati Tags: fall protection, harness inspection, safety harness

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I had no idea. Did you?  The deadliest (civilian) job in America is a cell phone repair person?  I guess I was thinking Deadliest Catch would rank up there.

This makes me rethink my outlook when I get a dropped cell phone call.

Recent figures show that the deadliest job in America now goes to people who construct, upgrade, and repair cell phone towers. Who are these people? Are they daredevils? How’s the pay? What training do they have? What’s the appeal? I want to know.

But for now let me share with you some statistics.  According to a story in last week’s RCR Wireless News …”building and climbing towers (which can be hundreds of feet tall) is more dangerous than ranching, fishing, logging, and even ironworking. The fatality rate is currently 183.6 deaths per 100,000 workers: Five tower workers died during one 12-day span earlier this year alone. 18 tower workers died on the job in 2006.

The cause for the run up in tower worker deaths isn’t completely clear, but it’s likely a combination of careless working practices (workers not using safety gear 100 % of the time, or not using it correctly) and network operators pushing to build out and upgrade their networks too quickly. Hard to blame carriers for wanting to get faster networks up and running, but not at the cost of human life. (RCR is careful to note that the investigation into the rise in fatalities is too early to attribute to any specific source.)”

There is a bunch of oversight in this industry. The person waxing my eyebrows has to follow more state regulations than a cell tower repair person. And because the towers are built and repaired by private contractors (the carriers and tower owners themselves are not involved directly and do not face fines) it makes it more difficult and slow for safety changes to happen.  However, some experts say to look for change in federal legislation as workers themselves push for change. A partnership was recently created between the NATE (National Association of Tower Erectors) and OSHA.

I have included a picture the NATE/OSHA partnership have available for job sites to post. It’s a reminder to tie-off when working.

You can download the SAFETY POSTER HERE

Technorati Tags: cell phone repair, dangerous job, safety gear

Posted in Fall Protection News by Sassy Safety Glasses Queen. The Sassy Safety Glasses Queen is our resident safety glasses expert. She specializes in the news, trends, and fashions of the Safety Glasses industry while dabbling in the world of fall protection.

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Imagine a construction worker that’s been involved in a fall and is waiting patiently for rescue… probably playing with his marbles solitaire.  In walks suspension trauma… Suspension trauma occurs after a fall, when the worker left suspended in the air by their harness.

Ultimately, blood begins to pool in his legs and his heart is unable to pump it back up to his brain.  The body’s natural instinct is to faint, which makes perfect sense.  His body wants him to faint.  This way his body can fall over and the blood can redistribute throughout his body.  The problem with suspension trauma is that when the worker passes out, he doesn’t fall over.  (Another case of man screwing up the natural order of life).

Once the victim passes out, the blood fails to reach his brain.  The brain no longer receives oxygen, and he will kick the bucket die.

Unfortunately, no one is immune to suspension trauma, and we have no idea how a body will react until it happens.  (Note: we wouldn’t recommend testing this.) In fact, people react differently to suspension trauma one day to another.

So how long does a person actually have?  It’s impossible to say.  Worst case scenario… the victim is dead in 10 minutes.  Some people last 10 minutes, while others hang on for an hour.  It just depends.  The important thing to remember is that there isn’t much time, and you don’t get a free pizza for tardiness.

To prevent this from occurring, it’s imperative to have a rescue plan in place on the job-site, and quality rescue equipment to make the rescue faster.   It’s a very serious risk.  Hopefully, these suspension trauma facts have encouraged you to be a little more diligent with your rescue plan.

Technorati Tags: fall protection, harness, suspension trauma

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It’s a common question:  How long can I use my harness?  Is there an expiration date?  What if I’ve never used  it? Will girls still like me?

Unfortunately, there is no direct answer.  Most manufacturers subscribe to the five-year theory, requiring you to dispose of the fall protection harness after five years regardless of use. (We don’t recommend this for unused body parts….)

Note: To be exact you’ll have to consult your manufacturers instructions.  Some manufacturers may void their warranty after five years, and others may not have anything written in stone.

We recommend removing a safety harness from service five years after the original purchase date.  If after five years of service, the harness has passed regular inspection and shows no sign of frayed webbing, chemical damage, burns, or tears, you should still remove it from service.  If your harness exhibits any of the aforementioned deficiencies the product should be removed from active duty, and disposed of so it won’t accidentally be used.

If you haven’t used your safety harness in five years and it’s essentially brand new, you still need to get a new harness.  It may seem ridiculous, but  you have no idea that the internal structure of the universal harness is still in tact.  In fact, your harness may no longer be under warranty and if it broke during a fall you’d be S.O.L.  Always stay conservative and take the safe route.

And if you want your harness to make it to the five year mark, when not in use store your harness at room temperature away from chemicals, moisture, and ultraviolet light.  In other words, don’t spill acid on it, clean it in the washing machine, leave it in the rain, or let it soak in the sun.

Technorati Tags: fall protection, safety harness, safety tips

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“You’ve got to ask yourself a question:  ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?” *

Do you feel lucky? Well do ya? My dear testosterone pumped reader, sometimes it’s better not to rely on luck. It’s better to assume Murphy’s Law and plan for contingencies.

Think, “Hmmm, although I have never fallen, maybe I should get a Res-Q Step.” Or,”Hmmm, maybe I should wear safety glasses when mowing the lawn.” Or “Who knows when Mr OSHA man (or women) might plan a visit to your work site? Those fines are quite inconvenient.”

As I read my weekly OSHA updates I wonder what people were thinking. And I can only come to one conclusion: plan ahead or else like Dierk Bentley sings,  you’ll be saying “What was I thinkin’?” And that’s really something you should reserve for your love life not for work.

*Thanks goes out to Dirty Harry for his great line.

Technorati Tags: osha, Safety Glasses, u-res-q

Posted in Fall Protection News by Sassy Safety Glasses Queen. The Sassy Safety Glasses Queen is our resident safety glasses expert. She specializes in the news, trends, and fashions of the Safety Glasses industry while dabbling in the world of fall protection.

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