This good information about fall arrest training is useful in understanding why it is important and how it helps. Fall arrest training may be required by a local or national government, but this information proves it’s a good idea too.

Why is fall arrest training significant? And what can actually be done to reduce falls?

Here’s some background information about fall arrest training that you might find helpful as you consider how it is possible to get the best training for your workforce. Armed with the good information, you can make good decisions.

Question: Why is fall arrest training required?

Your workplace culture must include a healthy respect for the basic hazards of your business. Falls are a very common cause of serious office injuries, but many of them are completely avoidable.

When a fall occurs, proper protection can minimise or eliminate injuries, saving lives, saving time off from work and ultimately saving the company money, resources and hassles.

Question: What can a company do to eliminate falls?

You may never be well placed to absolutely eliminate falls and the chance for falls from your workplace, but fall arrest training can help staff avoid falling from platforms and raised workstations or into holes.

Every industry is different, of course, but here are a couple of the things employees may find out about in fall arrest training:

• correctly protecting holes in floors where workers could fall while walking to a site
• the significance of guardrails on permanent and temporary work structures
• using harnesses, lines, nets, railings and other gear to prevent falls
• checking gear to be sure it is working correctly in protecting against injury
• keeping work surfaces clean to avoid tangles and other accidents
• keeping surfaces dry when viable to avoid slipperiness
• correctly teaching everyone who comes onto a site about safety
• communicating safety concerns to those that speak other languages

Question: Which fall arrest training courses are best?

A course should be aimed at your industry. If it isn’t, select another course or work with a different training company. Otherwise, selecting a company for fall arrest training is the same as choosing a company for any other sort of tutorial program. Go with a well respected organization that has got a history of doing a good job.

Question: Will my company get in trouble if we do not take part in training?

Mostly, yes. Training necessities vary by country, but some type of office safety is required in most industries and in most countries. Knowing what’s legally and honestly needed of your company is an important part of running a business — as important as understanding how to do your job well.

Final Thoughts

Fall protection is ultimately about defending your company’s most valuable asset, its people. As a bonus, reducing or eliminating falls from your working environment may end up in money savings as well. But the financial savings aren’t why so many jurisdictions need good safety routines related to working at serious height and protecting employees from the risks of floor openings and discontinuous surfaces.

Governments around the globe have seen that workplace safety saves lives. Protecting life is probably one of the first goals and responsibilities of a government, so it is smart that they would be so concerned in this important issue.

Driaan Louw, owner of a rope access company in Cape Town, writes about fall arrest and alternative ways to keep rope access technicians healthy because he knows how threatening their roles can be. He also knows that they do not have to take unacceptable risks when they’re correctly trained in equipment usage and safety routines.