The emphasis and scrutiny on safety in the workplace is increasing every day, and although significant advancements have been made in the field of fall protection, Canada (and specifically, Saskatchewan) still lags behind our neighbors in the US and significantly lags behind many European countries. One area of fall protection that is often misunderstood and overlooked is the design, installation, and maintenance of permanent roof top anchors.

Saskatchewan OH&S regulations require fall protection to be present anytime a worker could fall 3m or more. This means that most buildings could benefit from having permanent roof top anchors for workers to tie to while working near the leading edge. Furthermore, many multi-story buildings require rooftop anchors to allow for window washing and maintenance. It is important to consider the need for these anchors during the design phase of new buildings. The cost of installing these anchors during a new build, when structural members are exposed and accessible is significantly lower than having to open up a sealed roofing system to install them once the building is completed. So, what do designers, owners, and users need to know about permanent rooftop anchors?

According to the Saskatchewan OH&S regulations, a permanent rooftop anchor must have an ultimate load capacity of at least 22.2 kN (5000 lbs). Given this requirement, most of the anchors on the market are rated for at least 5000 lbs, so why is it even important to be aware of this requirement? Although the anchor itself might be rated for 5000 lbs, the substrate that it is fastened to and the fasteners themselves must also be capable of supporting a 5000 lb load. With the ever increasing liability placed on owners and designers, this means that it is always a good idea to have a professional engineer review the design prior to installation. The best resource for fall protection engineers is the CSA standards, and any engineer who is designing a permanent rooftop anchor should have in-depth knowledge of CSA Z259.16 (“Design of Active Fall Protection Systems”). For anchors intended for suspended access, CSA Z271 (“Safety Code for Suspended Platforms”) is a terrific resource.

In regards to installation, permanent rooftop anchors should be installed as per the manufacturer or supervising engineer’s instructions and should always be installed by competent workers who have experience with fall protection systems. CSA fall protection standards are unique in that they require sealed as-built drawings, which is meant to ensure that the certifying engineer is involved throughout the entire project and properly reviews the installation once completed.

Once the anchors are installed, it is important that they are maintained properly. All permanent roof top anchors should be inspected at least annually by a professional engineer or a qualified person under the supervision of an engineer. It is important for building owners to ensure that these inspections are carried out each year to keep users safe and to limit liability.

As awareness of fall protection increases throughout the province and country, Northern Strands is here to provide our industry-leading expertise and exceptional customer service to ensure that everyone goes home safe at the end of the work day.

Northern Strands is pleased to announce that it now offers a Overhead Crane Operator Course for overhead travelling cranes up to 50 tonnes in capacity! 

The overhead crane safety course is based on the Table 16 requirements for a competent operator that are set out in the Appendix of The Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 1996 here in Saskatchewan.  Learners can now get their full, 40 hour overhead crane course from Northern Strands, which includes a full-day below the hook rigging course as well as hand signal training. 

Overhead travelling crane certification can be achieved in either a 5 or 4 days, depending on how many hours per day the learners want to put in. The 4 day certification requires 10 hour days to make up the total 40 hours of combined practical and theory training.   

Competent operator training for an overhead crane is designed to be as hands-on as possible to let learners get as much time actually operating an overhead crane as they can during the course.

If you are seeking training for a competent operator of an overhead travelling crane up to 50 tonne in capacity, contact us anytime and we can make it happen!

Northern Strands Safety Training Division also offers the following safety training courses:

• Rigging Training
• Fall Arrest Training.
• Tugger Safety Training
• Suspended Access Equipment Training
• Emergency Medical Responder Training
• Medical First Responder Training
• All levels of First Aid / CPR Training

Contact us to learn more:

306-242-7073

training@northernstrands.com

or visit our Safety Training webpage http://northernstrands.com/training.aspx 

All Northern Strands Trainers are fully accredited and certified.

The FNU Pow Wow 2017 was last weekend at the Brandt Center in Regina. The First Nations University Pow Wow is one of the largest in Canada, with hundreds of competitors and thousands of spectators. Northern Strands sponsored the events first responders, Northern Strands T.E.A.M Response.  T.E.A.M Response is composed of first responder volunteers, including two of our own Safety Trainers, Cassenna Parameter and Belinda Mitchell.  The Nine members of T.E.A.M Response volunteered 160 hours over the 2 days, providing basic medical services for the First Nations event.  

The volunteers honored the First Nations people, Northern Strands and all involved by displaying professionalism, empathy and compassion to everyone in need of assistance. In appreciation, an honorable mention was made on behalf of Northern Strands T.E.A.M. Response as part of the Master of Ceremonies opening speech. 

Regina’s Police Chief Evan Bray stood as honor guard for the event.  Coincidentally, his daughter volunteers with T.E.A.M. Response. Father and daughter posed for the picture you see below.

The curious thing about fall protection used by most construction companies today is that a great while a great many of us know that it is currently workplace law in the province of Saskatchewan to wear a full-body harness when working at heights, we fail to realize that there is often more to consider.

We might also know that the soles of our feet need to be over the 3m/10’ threshold before it becomes law to use fall protection on non-permanent work areas, but what many of us do not realize is that the law also states that a fall protection plan is in place under these very same circumstances.

Furthermore, the law sets out what this fall protection program has to cover:

• The fall hazards at the work site
• The fall protection system to be used at the worksite
• The procedures used to assemble, maintain, inspect, use and disassemble the fall protection system
• AND, the rescue procedures to be used if a worker falls, is suspended by a personal fall arrest system or safety net and needs to be rescued.

A copy of this written documents must be readily available before work begins at a worksite where a risk of falling exists and the employer is responsible to ensure that all workers are trained in the fall protection plan and safe use of the fall protection system before allowing the worker to work in an area where a fall protection system must be used.

All of this information can be found in section 116.1 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 1996 and if you happen to find yourself working at heights without an adequate fall protection or rescue plan you should also look at section 3-31 of the Saskatchewan Employment Act which states:

“A worker may refuse to perform any particular act or series of acts at a place of employment if the worker has reasonable grounds to believe that the act or series of acts is unusually dangerous to the worker’s health or safety or the health or safety of any other person at the place of employment…”

If you need help writing up a fall protection program for your construction company, contact us. Our head trainer will help get you pointed in the right direction and can provide fall protection plan templates on request.

March 30th was an exciting night for employees of the Northern Strands Group of Companies.  It was the NSBA Business Builder Awards and the Group of Companies was a finalist for Community Builder and Safe Employer Awards.  The Children's Wish Foundation of Saskatchewan had nominated the Group of companies for the Community Builder Award and the NSBA nominated us for the Safe Employer Award.

Why were we honored with the Community Builder Award you might ask?  On an annual basis the Northern Strands Group of Companies gives back to the community in a variety of ways. An employee-driven Committee has been established to drive fund-raising while keeping in mind the other areas of social responsibility. 

Right from day one our employees are exposed to our culture of community support and social responsibility. In our new hire pack we have included a letter that explains our efforts to be an active contributor in the community. This same letter explains that we have partnered with the Saskatchewan Children's Wish foundation and have the goal of granting one child's wish annually. After reading this letter, many of our employees choose to donate through our Children's Wish payroll deduction program. This is just the start of our fundraising though.  

Throughout the year we raise funds for Children's Wish in a variety of ways; Paper, pop cans, containers and batteries are recycled. Additional funds are raised through yard cleanup with scrap steel and other reusable goods being sent to auction. The Group of Companies holds several fund-raising BBQ's throughout the summer. Employees are encouraged to participate and volunteer to help with the activities during the event. We contact neighboring businesses and drop off flyers in the effort to grow each and every BBQ. 

We also have a very unique way of giving back to the community. We use our Safety Training Ambulance to raise money at events like Craven Country Jamboree and other similar events. Our Trainers donate their time as first responders. They offer basic medical care out of the ambulance. Any money we are paid is donated back to Children's Wish. 

Every year our efforts have helped give hope to a local family that needed it the most. We believe one of the key reasons we are successful in encouraging our employees to donate their time is the connection we make with the child we are aligned with. Every year we make an effort to meet with our Children's Wish child and their family at a Children's Wish organized event. The last two years we participated in Children's Wish's Exile Island.  A fundraising event where 8 employees take the afternoon off to compete in a series of fun events with their child. 

We are proud to say that for last 4 years in a row we have donated over $10,000 towards granting a Child's Wish!

Although Children's Wish is our main focus, we still contribute to the community in a variety of other ways. We have sponsored or donated to many other local charities, events and teams; the Contacts, Delisle Rodeo, Saskatchewan 4H club, The Salvation Army, Saskatoon Food bank, Friendship Inn and SWITCH.