Fall Protection Site Assessments
Total Group provides Fall Protection Site Assessments to identify worksite fall hazards, review existing safety measures and recommend improvements for workers at height. We help businesses evaluate current systems and develop customized fall protection plans around the work being performed.
An assessment gives your team a basis for deciding where protection needs to change and what must be resolved before work begins. Share the tasks, work areas and existing arrangements with Total Group so the assessment can address the conditions your workers will encounter, including how they reach and leave elevated locations.
Assess the task, access route and fall exposure
A useful assessment considers where workers travel as well as where they perform the task. Roof edges, floor openings, ladders, platforms and changes between access systems can create different exposures. Equipment, machinery or hazardous materials below the work area can affect the consequences of a fall. Temporary work arrangements may also differ from the site's normal operating setup.
Existing controls need to match those exposures. Guardrails provide a barrier; travel restraint limits movement so a worker cannot reach a fall position; fall arrest stops a fall after it begins. A fall arrest system requires attention to clearance below the worker and the possibility of swinging into nearby structures. These distinctions are described in CCOHS fall protection planning guidance. They help frame the review of current measures rather than treating every elevated task as a harness selection exercise.
Alberta example: protection and plan requirements
For Alberta workplaces governed by the provincial Occupational Health and Safety Code, Part 9, section 139 requires protection where a worker may fall 3 metres or more. It also addresses specified lower-height exposures, including an unusual possibility of injury, hazardous substances or objects below, openings in work surfaces, and certain permanent work areas. A height measurement alone does not settle whether protection is required.
Section 140 sets a separate trigger for a fall protection plan: a worker may fall 3 metres or more and is not protected by guardrails. The plan must identify the hazards, protection system and anchors. It must confirm sufficient clearance where applicable and cover relevant equipment procedures and rescue procedures for a worker who falls, remains suspended and needs rescue. The employer must keep the plan at the site, review it with workers before fall-risk work and update it when conditions affecting protection change.
These are Alberta examples, not a single rule for all Canadian workplaces. Project planning needs to establish the applicable jurisdiction and any additional employer or client requirements.
Include rescue readiness in the assessment discussion
Where fall arrest is used, consider how a suspended worker could be reached and brought to safety. The plan needs to account for the location of the worker, access restrictions and hazards that could affect rescuers. Identify who will initiate the response, who will conduct the rescue, what equipment will be available and how communications and first aid will be coordinated.
CCOHS working-at-heights rescue guidance advises that relying only on calling local emergency services after an incident is not an appropriate rescue plan. Discuss external assistance before work starts and confirm how it fits the site's arrangements. An assessment supports this planning; the project still needs task-specific rescue arrangements and people prepared for their assigned roles.
Connect recommendations to site responsibilities
Recommendations need an implementation owner. Operations personnel can explain the task and access constraints, supervisors can coordinate the work, and workers can identify conditions encountered during the job. Engineering questions about anchor or structural suitability need the appropriate technical review. Reviewing a fall hazard does not by itself certify an anchor or authorize a change to a system.
Keep relevant plans, equipment information and inspection records available for the planning discussion. Resolve gaps before relying on the proposed arrangement. In Alberta, section 141 also requires safe-use training and awareness of site-specific fall hazards and controls. A site assessment and worker training serve different purposes.
What to provide when requesting an assessment
To help define the assessment scope, send:
- The site location, work areas, planned tasks and project timing.
- Available drawings or photographs showing access routes, edges, openings and areas below the work.
- Existing fall protection plans, system information, anchor documentation and inspection records.
- Known access restrictions, nearby operations and planned changes to the work area.
- The site contact, responsible employer or contractor, and current emergency arrangements.
Tell Total Group whether you are reviewing an existing system or planning a new work activity. For the wider service context, visit Total Group Rescue services.
