• Date of inspection
• Certified inspector’ s signature
• Pass or fail indication
This summer, don’ t let up the heat on enforcing fall protection requirements and best practices.
There is no mandate to perform annual inspections on all pieces of fall protection equipment at once, which could be challenging for organizations with equipment spread across several locations. However, every piece of fall protection equipment is subject to this inspection at least once every 12 months.
Employee Training Many companies choose to perform annual equipment inspections in the summer since it is usually their busier season, especially for roofing, construction or other outdoor trades. It also provides organizations with a great opportunity to schedule fall protection training for employees to refresh their subject matter awareness, review OSHA regulations and discuss ANSI best practices for proper equipment use.
OSHA requires employers to formally train and designate workers as authorized users before they can begin using fall protection equipment. Authorized users typically must complete 4 to 8 hours of training.
This training can be conducted by the organization’ s competent person or a third-party ANSI-accredited trainer. And while most industry experts recommend refresher training at least annually, there are certain circumstances when OSHA requires retraining.
First, employers must retrain employees whenever a change occurs to the equipment, work practices or location where work is being performed. Some examples of this could be new equipment replacing older equipment or when new policies affect how elevated work is performed.
Second, if a worker displays unsafe work practices or a gap in knowledge of fall protection principles, they must be retrained.
Proper Equipment Storage Techniques
It is also important to consider how fall protection equipment is stored to maintain its structural integrity and potentially extend the product’ s lifespan. Ultraviolet( UV) exposure is one of
Spring 2025 | Telecom & Utility Construction 7