Page 14
— Property Management Quarterly — April 2016
B
ob Johnson is a heating, ven-
tilating and air-conditioning
professional who loves his
job. He’s been in the business
for 35 years and, at this point,
he’s an old pro. On one Tuesday morn-
ing in September, Bob was right where
you were most likely to find him – on
the job site.
But this Tuesday morning was dif-
ferent. Bob was working on a particu-
larly tricky job on the side of a large
HVAC unit that needed to be finished
yesterday in order to meet his dead-
line. Maybe it was because of the
sense of urgency, but a gust of wind
that he would have been prepared for
any other day caught him completely
off guard. Before he knew it, Bob had
fallen over the side of his work area
and was staring down the barrel of a
40-foot drop. If the fictional Bob John-
son hadn’t been using a horizontal
lifeline, his story would have ended in
a very different way. Luckily, he was
and because of it he had a fun (albeit
scary) story to tell.
This is one of the many examples
of the important role that suspended
access systems used for façade access
play in the lives of people all over the
world on a daily basis. By making sure
you understand more about the types
of suspended-access systems that are
available, what each is designed to do
and the responsibilities of those who
use them, you can help make sure
that you’re creating the safest pos-
sible working environment for your
employees at all times.
RDS, SS and HLLs
Though rope descent systems,
suspended scaffolding systems and
horizontal lifelines
are all based on the
same underlying
principal, they are
different in execu-
tion and each serves
its own unique pur-
pose.
A rope descent
system often is used
for cleaning win-
dows with the aid
of a chair, for exam-
ple. This would help
a situation where
one person needs
to reach a difficult-
to-access area safely while performing
an important job at the same time.
A suspended scaffold is designed
to hold multiple people. These usually
are used for window washing, exterior
caulking, painting projects and win-
dow replacement projects. Suspended
scaffolds typically are found in places
like high-rises and skyscrapers for
this reason – they make it easier (and
safer) for multiple people to accom-
plish a job that would take too long
for one person to do.
Fall protection systems like horizon-
tal lifelines, on the other hand, are not
designed for suspension at all. Instead,
their goal is to protect someone in
case they should fall off the side of
a building or off of any other work
area. If someone is working on a large
HVAC with a drop of 4 feet or more, for
example, using a rope decent system
wouldn’t make any sense – it would
make his job more difficult to accom-
plish. A horizontal lifeline, though, lets
him get in and get out as safely and as
efficiently as possible.
The Importance of Certification
Many people understand that rope
access inspections and certifications
are important, but aren’t necessar-
ily sure why. If you know beyond the
shadow of a doubt that something
works the way it’s supposed to, why
bother with certification?
The answer is quite simple. Cer-
tification of this type adds liability
protection to the building owner in
the event that something goes wrong.
When a professional engineer enters
a workspace and certifies suspended
access and fall protection equipment,
he is protecting that property owner
in case something should unexpect-
edly fail. Certification isn’t just about
making sure fall protection equip-
ment is functioning – remember that
accidents still can happen in the saf-
est of environments. It’s for situations
where if something goes wrong, you
have the most actionable information
possible to figure out why.
OSHA and Visual Inspections
Based on the described use situa-
tions for suspended access systems
and other types of fall protection
equipment, it’s easy to see why
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration takes annual visual
inspections seriously. In accordance
Stefanie M.
Horner, CAP-OM
Compliance
consultant, Applied
Technical Services
Inc., Denver
Protecting
Against
EAB
Q:
How effective are insecticide
treatments against Emerald Ash Borer?
A:
Under experimental conditions, most
results indicate a 90 percent or higher
success rate. In practical applications,
success rates for insecticide treatments
are at least 80 percent effective. Why
the difference?
Trees treated early, and in good
vigor, have the highest success rate.
Call
303.209.7039
for a
FREE Evaluation
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Photos courtesy ATS
A davit system is used for suspended scaffolding and is designed to hold multiple people.
