American industry recognizes
OSHA's increasing emphasis on fall protection. As areas
with high risk potential for serious injuries due to accidental
falls have been targeted, the incidence rate has declined.
Existing OSHA general statutes
make fall protection mandatory where workers are exposed
to potential fall hazards from heights of six feet or
more. Many companies have voluntarily lowered their in-house
standards even further than the OSHA guidelines and restrict
workers from traversing more than four feet above unprotected
potential fall surfaces.
Informed insurance industry
risk evaluators believe "four foot maximum potential
falls" may become the regulated standard in the future,
since insurance industry research into documented falls
has shown that serious injuries are common even from this
minimal height. In addition to free-falls off high working
surfaces such as railcars or truck trailers, some of the
most common injuries are caused by minimal, non-impact
falls including slips, trips, and sliding falls. Fall
Protection Systems, Inc., the leading manufacturer of
fall protection systems in the USA, offers effective,
comparatively low cost fall protection systems for these
applications.