It’s so easy to overlook one of the main fall protection standards in Winnipeg.
The Workplace Safety and Health Division has established regulations regarding construction fall protection standards in Winnipeg. If your workplace fails to comply with these standards, the law will require you to compensate employees injured in a construction accident.
One question brings everything into perspective: What are the standards for fall protection in Winnipeg? It all stems down to Part 14 of Manitoba’s Workplace Safety and Health Regulation (M.R, 217/2006).
Risk Evaluation
The Manitoba law states that you need to execute a complete risk evaluation when assessing the workplace for fall hazards. Employers have a responsibility to evaluate falling risk in the form of job hazard analysis. You have to break down the work tasks into individual steps and then analyze them to determine the hazards. Once it’s identified, you can develop a control measure and safe work procedures in Winnipeg.
Fall Protection standards in Winnipeg: Training
As an employer, you’re responsible for:
- Developing and implementing safe work procedures that prevent falls at the workplace
- Training workers in the safe work procedures
- Ensuring workers comply with the safe work procedures
Your work safety procedures must identify the fall hazards and set out the measures to prevent falls at the workplace.
However, here’s a follow-up question:
When Do You Require Fall Protection?
You’ll need safe work procedures in Winnipeg when a worker risks falling:
- A vertical distance of 3M or more
- A vertical distance less than 3M, but there’s an increased risk of injury
- A vertical distance of more than 1.2M from an area used as a path for a wheelbarrow
- Into operating machinery or moving part of the machinery
- Into water or another fluid
- Onto or into hazardous object or substance
- Through an opening on a work surface
Some situations require the use of fall protection systems. For more information, contact us.
Issues to Address to respect fall protection standards in Winnipeg
Not all worksites in Winnipeg require fall protection standards systems, but when it does, you must:
- Identify the location of each fall protection system at the worksite
- State the procedure to assemble, maintain, inspect, use, and disassemble a fall protection system
- Identify the procedure to rescue a worker after a fall has been arrested
You must then document all the safe work procedures, which must include:
- Responsibility of supervisors and workers in the workplace
- Fall protection method you’ll employ
- Personal fall protection equipment your workers will use
Control Measures Using Fall Protection Systems
The Manitoba workplace safety course outline suggests the following fall protection systems for workers:
- Use of non slippering flooring for surface protection
- Fixed barriers (which entail handrails and guardrails)
- Surface opening protection (including removal covers or guardrails)
- Warning barriers or control zones (for flat roofs and decks only)
- Travel restraint systems (like a lifeline and full-body safety harness)
- Fall arrest systems (which entail lifelines, shock absorbers, and full-body safety harnesses)
- Fall containment system (like safety nets)
What determines the type of fall protection system you choose is the nature of the work and prevailing circumstances. In that case, the ideal fall protection system eliminates the risk of falling when working at heights.
For more information and to discover our protective equipment, contact us. Our experts in passive fall protection will answer as soon as possible and guide you through fall protection standards in Winnipeg.