OSHA launched a National Emphasis Program (NEP) targeting employers for greater investigation and enforcement actions if their workers have suffered what the agency believes is an excessive number of workplace falls.
“Considering that falls remain the leading cause of fatalities and serious injuries in all industries, the agency has determined that an increase in enforcement and outreach activities is warranted,” said OSHA in its May 1 announcement.
Falls are always among the top five of annual workplace injuries in OSHA’s yearly rankings.
Falls to a lower level accounted for 13% of all worker fatalities between 2014 and 2021. About 36.5% of all deaths in the workplace occurred because of employees falling in all circumstances, according to the most recent statistics.
Although the NEP covers fall prevention in all industries, the largest number of inspections will take place in the construction industry.
Inspections under the NEP will include two categories – programmed inspections and self-referrals. Programmed inspections are based on neutral selection criteria for both construction and targeted non-construction activities.
Although such inspections initially should be limited to evaluating worker exposure to fall hazards, they can expand if injury records, plain view hazards or employee interviews indicate other potential safety and health hazards or violations
State OSHA Plans must notify OSHA whether they intend to adopt the NEP or already have in place policies and procedures that are at least as effective as the federal OSHA program, with final adoption to be accomplished within six months.