What is fall protection planning and why do we need to plan for it?
Fall Protection Planning is part of your Health and Safety planning that focus on the health and safety of workers where there is a risk of falling from heights. We also implement Fall Protection Plans to comply with Construction Regulation 10 of 2014.
When preparing a Fall Protection Plan, you need to designate a competent person. The Institute for Working at Heights (IWH) is the registered professional body with SAQA for working at heights designations and the criteria for registering as a Fall Protection Plan Developer is that you must complete unit standards 229995, 229998 and 229994 with a registered and accredited training provider.
Only then can you be registered by the IWK Professional Body as a competent person. Please refer to the definition of “competent person” as per the Construction Regulations 2014.
I currently am employed by one of the largest roof sheeting companies in the country and because of our business; all of our work is carried out at heights. Over the years, I have met several persons who have attended a 1-day course in Fall Protection Plan Development. How is this possible?
Fall Protection Planning is part of your Health and Safety planning that focus on the health and safety of workers where there is a risk of falling from heights. We also implement Fall Protection Plans to comply with Construction Regulation 10 of 2014.
When preparing a Fall Protection Plan, you need to designate a competent person. The Institute for Working at Heights (IWH) is the registered professional body with SAQA for working at heights designations and the criteria for registering as a Fall Protection Plan Developer is that you must complete unit standards 229995, 229998 and 229994 with a registered and accredited training provider.
Only then can you be registered by the IWK Professional Body as a competent person. Please refer to the definition of “competent person” as per the Construction Regulations 2014.
I currently am employed by one of the largest roof sheeting companies in the country and because of our business; all of our work is carried out at heights. Over the years, I have met several persons who have attended a 1-day course in Fall Protection Plan Development. How is this possible?
How do you do 3 unit standards in a one day course?
Normally this course takes about 5½ days with practical training in Fall Arrest and Basic Rescue and by submitting a POE to the IWH. Even after this, I still don’t think that you can be competent without the practical experience. Valuable experience gained on site is far more important than a piece of paper gained by attending a one day course.
Whenever we start a new project, I prepare a site specific Fall Protection Plan and submit it to the Principal Contractor or Client for approval.
We have the Construction Regulations but still reports of workers falling from height make the news. What then is wrong here?
Most of the time, the person who is responsible for the approval of your Fall Protection Plan doesn’t have the competence themselves.
Now the question is why should they be a competent Fall Protection Plan Developer?
They might have Samtrac and all the other fancy courses and in most cases, working at heights, will not be in their scope of work.
That is where they are wrong! If I am going to work on heights on your site, you need to be competent to address the risk and hazards involved.
Normally this course takes about 5½ days with practical training in Fall Arrest and Basic Rescue and by submitting a POE to the IWH. Even after this, I still don’t think that you can be competent without the practical experience. Valuable experience gained on site is far more important than a piece of paper gained by attending a one day course.
Whenever we start a new project, I prepare a site specific Fall Protection Plan and submit it to the Principal Contractor or Client for approval.
We have the Construction Regulations but still reports of workers falling from height make the news. What then is wrong here?
Most of the time, the person who is responsible for the approval of your Fall Protection Plan doesn’t have the competence themselves.
Now the question is why should they be a competent Fall Protection Plan Developer?
They might have Samtrac and all the other fancy courses and in most cases, working at heights, will not be in their scope of work.
That is where they are wrong! If I am going to work on heights on your site, you need to be competent to address the risk and hazards involved.
What better way than to be a competent Fall Protection Plan Developer?
I have tried my theory and deliberately submitted a generic Fall Protection Plan who anyone can download from the internet to safety officers responsible for large construction sites, and this generic plan was approved.
This plan was approved because they don’t know what the requirements for a Fall Protection Plan is and sometimes they don’t even take time to read through your plan. When submitting your Safety file most of the time the person on the other side of the desk is incompetent or they just tick boxes. The SHE Plan is in the file, tick the box, the Fall Protection Plan is in the file, tick the box and etc.
In the construction industry there is a huge gap when it comes to experienced Health and Safety practitioners. Companies are always looking to save cost and when appointing practitioners, they appoint people with the minimum training and experience, these practitioners is then responsible for everyone’s health and safety on site.
I have tried my theory and deliberately submitted a generic Fall Protection Plan who anyone can download from the internet to safety officers responsible for large construction sites, and this generic plan was approved.
This plan was approved because they don’t know what the requirements for a Fall Protection Plan is and sometimes they don’t even take time to read through your plan. When submitting your Safety file most of the time the person on the other side of the desk is incompetent or they just tick boxes. The SHE Plan is in the file, tick the box, the Fall Protection Plan is in the file, tick the box and etc.
In the construction industry there is a huge gap when it comes to experienced Health and Safety practitioners. Companies are always looking to save cost and when appointing practitioners, they appoint people with the minimum training and experience, these practitioners is then responsible for everyone’s health and safety on site.
Now I have a fancy Fall Protection Plan and what then?
If you are not a competent Fall Protection Plan Developer, you can get help from “experts “who will supply you with a fall protection plan for a generous fee.
Once you have the fall protection plan, you must implement it on site. Most of the time this is problematic for any practitioner because the employees on site have no training or just the basic training what ultimately is inadequate.
You sit with a fall protection plan that looks great on paper but cannot be applied to your site because of a lack of training or inadequate training.Incompetence is the end result.
Whenever you write the fall protection plan you must consider the training needs of the employees who will be working on the site and for whom you write the plan. Make sure that employees are trained in Unit Standard 229998 and 229995- Fall Arrest and Basic Rescue as a minimum.
Your training ultimately will depend on what access methods will be used; will it be scaffolding or rope access? And also what rescue scenarios will be used in your rescue plan.
Fall Protection is much more than just filing a Fall Protection Plan in your safety file. Training and competence is the key part to effective managing the fall risks.
To conclude; whenever you write a Fall Protection Plan make sure –
If you are not a competent Fall Protection Plan Developer, you can get help from “experts “who will supply you with a fall protection plan for a generous fee.
Once you have the fall protection plan, you must implement it on site. Most of the time this is problematic for any practitioner because the employees on site have no training or just the basic training what ultimately is inadequate.
You sit with a fall protection plan that looks great on paper but cannot be applied to your site because of a lack of training or inadequate training.Incompetence is the end result.
Whenever you write the fall protection plan you must consider the training needs of the employees who will be working on the site and for whom you write the plan. Make sure that employees are trained in Unit Standard 229998 and 229995- Fall Arrest and Basic Rescue as a minimum.
Your training ultimately will depend on what access methods will be used; will it be scaffolding or rope access? And also what rescue scenarios will be used in your rescue plan.
Fall Protection is much more than just filing a Fall Protection Plan in your safety file. Training and competence is the key part to effective managing the fall risks.
To conclude; whenever you write a Fall Protection Plan make sure –
- it is site specific,
- it includes a detailed fall risk assessment,
- you train your employees adequately through training providers registered with the IWH,
- and that you implement the plan on site.
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