EVERY WORKER

How WSN can help:
Workplace Safety North offers a range of
products to help workplaces improve their fall
prevention training programs including:
TRAINING
Focus on Falls
People are falling — statistics are not. In Ontario, approximately 80 people
fall at work every day. This half-day course provides participants with
information and guidance and controlling slip, trip and fall hazards in the
workplace. Participants also learn how to develop and implement a fall
prevention program.
Fall Protection Awareness Online
This Internet-based training program provides a valuable one-hour overview of
why fall protection systems are important, what the law requires regarding fall
protection, and how fall hazards in the workplace can be eliminated or prevented.
High Angle/Confined Space Rescue Training
This course, which may be presented on-site if suitable facilities are available,
offers a combination of knowledge and skills development in a competencybased
approach to training with an emphasis on hands-on activities. Classroom
presentations and course material covers legislation imposing rescue
requirements, suspension trauma, and the basics of rope rescue equipment
and techniques, including rigging configurations, rescue knots and anchorages.
Extensive practical exercises at elevation include the raising and lowering of
personnel, the slinging of stretchers, the pick-off maneuver for the rescue of a
suspended casualty, and extrication from confined spaces.
Doing Better,
But More to be Done
When it comes to preventing
falls from heights we’re doing
better, but the improvement is
not keeping pace with the overall
reduction in lost-time injuries.
Statistics show that last year
Workplace Safety North clients
– in the mining, forestry, paper,
printing and converting sectors
– reported a decline of about 52
per cent over the past 10 years in
lost-time injuries due to falls from
heights, but the overall lost-time
injury rate declined by about 68
per cent over the same period.
Falls from heights include
falls down stairs or steps, from
ladders and scaffolding, from
non-moving vehicles, from one
level to a lower level, from roofs,
loading docks and through holes
and various openings.
Across Ontario, falls from
heights account for about a
third of all fall-related injuries.
The remaining two-thirds
are classified as “same level
falls”. (See the Fall 2011 Every
Worker for more on "same level
falls".) Combined falls account
for roughly 20 per cent of all
workplace injuries.
Sprains, strains, soft tissue
tears and bruises are the most
common injuries suffered in falls
from heights, accounting for
more than 50 per cent. Almost 30
per cent result in fractures which
may occur in virtually any bone
in the body.
Falls don't only hurt workers,
they can kill workers. Over the
past 10 years among Workplace
Safety North clients, an average
of one worker a year dies as a
result of injuries suffered in a fall
from heights.
For more information on these courses and products, or for information on other fall protection products,
contact Workplace Safety North at 1-888-730-7821 or visit WorkplaceSafetyNorth.ca.
8 WorkplaceSafetyNorth.ca