Fall Protection

Hazard elimination involves evaluating the design to eliminate fall hazards or changing the task, process, controls, or other means to remove the need for any employee to be exposed to a fall hazard.

Personal fall restraint secures an employee to an anchorage using a full body harness and lanyard short enough to prevent the person’s center of gravity from reaching the fall hazard.

Administrative controls are employer-mandated safe work practices or procedures that prevent exposure to a fall by signaling or warning an employee to avoid approaching a fall hazard. Examples include warning lines and safety monitors.

Portable and fixed ladders are used by many employees for various tasks at the University. Falls from ladders are one of the leading causes of occupational injuries according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Instead of using a ladder to access or work at an elevated height, consider using a mobile scaffold or mobile elevating work platform.

If a ladder must be used for a job:

• Select the appropriate ladder.
• Inspect it thoroughly.
• Use it properly.

Refer to the Ladder Safety focus sheet (PDF) for detailed information about selecting, inspecting and using ladders safely.

Portable ladders must be inspected by a Competent Person when first placed into service, annually, when damaged by impact or tipping over, or when exposed to excessive heat, such as a fire. Use the Portable Ladder Annual Inspection Checklist during inspections.

Fixed ladders must be inspected periodically. Use the Fixed Ladder Annual Inspection Checklist during inspections.

Refer to the UW Fall Protection Program Manual for more information.

A fall protection system is required when employees are exposed to fall hazards of 4 feet or more to the ground or lower level.

The best fall protection on a roof is a parapet wall or permanent guardrail system 42 inches (plus or minus 3 inches) high at the roof edge.

Fall protection must be provided on unguarded roofs when employees and others need to access the roof and do work. When working on low slope roofs, refer to the Alternative Fall Protection on Low Slop Roofs focus sheet for guidance when traditional fall protection systems cannot be implemented.

Use the Roof Access Permit Template to control contractor access to conduct work on the roof of a University building.

Refer to the UW Fall Protection Program Manual for more information.

A walking-working surface is any horizontal or vertical surface on or through which an employee walks, works or gains access to a work area. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, slips, trips and falls are the leading cause of workplace fatalities and injuries. Falls from heights and on the same level are historically among the leading causes of serious work-related injuries at the University.

• Walking-working surfaces need to be inspected periodically to ensure that they are free of hazards.
• Guardrails or appropriate fall protection must be provided where required.

Units and departments can use the Walking-Working Surfaces Inspection Checklist to identify areas or conditions for potential slip and trip hazards, especially in office and general work areas.

Refer to the UW Fall Protection Program Manual for more information.

• Provide the necessary resources to ensure the implementation and maintenance of the fall protection program.
• Identify areas at UW owned and leased facilities where there is a risk of serious injury due to falling.
• Appoint Competent Person(s) to assess fall hazards, develop, implement and evaluate fall protection work plans.
• Appoint Qualified Person(s) to design, engineer and maintain fall protection systems as required.
• Ensure employee(s) are trained to identify and control fall hazards.
• Know and follow the UW Fall Protection Program Manual.
• Approve alternative fall protection systems as needed.
• Coordinate emergency fall rescue.

• Design, engineer and inspect fall protection systems.
• Provide the necessary Qualified Persons to design, engineer and maintain fall protection systems.
• Maintain records on all fall protection installations, repairs and trainings.

• Provide the UW point of contact a copy of their company's fall protection program documents for review prior to performing work.
• Provide appropriate fall protection systems for company employees as required by law, including but not limited to guardrail systems and personal fall protection systems.
• Complete Job Hazard Analyses and Fall Protection Work Plans in accordance with regulatory requirements, standards and industry best practices.
• Complete UW Roof Access Permits as required.

Falls are among the most common causes of serious work-related injuries and deaths. If a fall hazard cannot be eliminated, effective fall protection shall be planned, implemented, and monitored to control the risks of injury due to falling.

According to Washington State Department of Labor and Industries regulations, regardless of the fall distance in Washington State, all employers have a duty of care to protect employees from being exposed to serious injury or death while working at heights, including above or adjacent to dangerous equipment or machinery.

The UW Fall Protection Program applies to all departments on UW campuses, off-campus UW work locations and leased properties where any type of activity, indoors or outdoors, could result in injuries from falls. Whether you work in a shop, laboratory, office, research facility, medical center or you are just walking on campus, you must be protected from fall hazards.

Refer to the UW Fall Protection Program Manual for more information.

General fall protection

WAC 296-24                              Working surfaces, guarding floors and wall openings, ladders

WAC 296-24-88050                  Personal fall arrest system

WAC 296-155, Part C-1            Fall arrest and fall restraint

WAC 296-800-260                    Floor openings, floor holes, open-sided floors, walkways and platforms  

OSHA 1910.28                          Walking Working Surfaces

ANSI/ASSE Z 359                     The Fall Protection Code

Scaffolding

WAC 296-874                           Scaffolds

Mobile elevating work platforms

WAC 296-869                           Elevating Work Platforms

ANSI A92                                  Vehicle Mounted Elevating and Rotating Work Platforms

Window Cleaning

WAC 296-878-15025                  Personal fall arrest systems

WAC 296-24, Part J-3                Personal fall arrest systems

WAC 296-24-88050 mandatory Appendix C, Part I          Personal fall arrest systems

ANSI/IWCA I-14                         Window Cleaning Safety Standard

Ladders

WAC 296-876                            Ladders, Portable and Fixed

Employer-mandated safe work practices or procedures that are designed to prevent exposure by signaling or warning an employee to avoid approaching a fall hazard (warning line, safety monitor, or safety watch)

A system in which all necessary components function together to restrain an employee from falling to a lower level; types of fall restraint systems include standard guardrail systems or personal fall restraint systems.

Changing the task, process, controls, or other means so as to remove the need for a person to be exposed to a hazard

A system used to slow and stop a person during a fall from an elevated location; it consists of an anchorage, connectors, a full body harness, and may include a lanyard, deceleration device, lifeline, or suitable combinations of these. The use of a body belt for any fall protection is prohibited.

One who, by possession of a recognized degree, certificate, or professional standing, or who by extensive knowledge, training, and experience, has successfully demonstrated their ability to solve or resolve problems relating to the subject matter, the work, or the project