October 13, 2003—Each year hundreds of workers die from falls, the third leading cause of on-the-job deaths in the U.S., often due to the lack of training with fall protection equipment and procedures, reports The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE). Responding to this training issue, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z359 Fall Protection Committee met recently to revise the Z359.1-1992 standard Safety Requirements for Personal Fall Arrest Systems, which will include new sections on fall protection training and competency.
Dozens of safety professionals from across the U.S. attended the Z359.1 Committee meeting at ASSEs headquarters in Des Plaines, IL. The committee is finalizing a new needed section on a comprehensive managed fall protection program, which covers fall protection training for workers, supervisors, engineers and trainers.
The standard is currently under committee review and will then go to public ballot after full committee approval within the year. The final step in the standards process will be approval by ANSI. ASSE serves as secretariat of the Z359 committee.
Z359.1 Subcommittee Chair Randy Wingfield, of Bainbridge, WA, said, “The comprehensive managed fall protection program will help fill in the gaps for corporations; providing them with ways to implement fall protection programs and systems, not just how to use the equipment.”
For more information, visit ASSE.
