Our Safety Trainers are often asked questions like, "Who can inspect fall protection equipment" and "How often should you inspect a Safety Harness?"

A proper fall protection course will surely have taught its learners how to don a harness and more importantly, that it, and the rest of their equipment, must be inspected prior each use as well as how to perform these pre-use inspections.  The course may have even mentioned that the equipment must also be inspected annually by a ‘competent’ person.

This ‘competent inspector’ is often a source of great panic as companies scramble to find a course that gives them what they think they want insofar as ‘qualifications’ go.  Many times our training department gets asked if we offer a competent inspector course for fall arrest gear to which we normally respond with a question of our own: “if someone is potentially relying on this gear to arrest a fall and save their life, who should be more competent than them to inspect it?”

Especially given that the exact requirement as specified in manufacturer manuals for fall arrest equipment far and wide is that the equipment be inspected by a competent person other than its principle user, it would seem that the manufacturers are on the same page.  The manufacturers themselves are not in the habit of bestowing some special title on someone that certifies them as being a special inspector that is somehow more qualified than the users of the equipment.  They also agree that whosoever may need this equipment to save their lives should surely be also be fully capable of inspecting it. That is why the Northern Strands Fall Protection course has hands on inspection of harnesses as a key focus of the training.

In this part of the course learners are led through what to look for on a harness, what is acceptable and what is not, and ways of preventing that sort of damage from happening in the first place.  Students are guided on how to look through harnesses to ensure that the buckles, D-Rings, grommets and other hardware are not deformed, cracked, corroded, nicked, gouged or otherwise damaged. They are shown how to assess the webbing to ensure that there are no burns/melting, abrasion, cut fibres, UV-damage or broken stitches. The course also teaches learners how to verify that the tags on the harness are attached and legible, as well as how to check to see if the equipment has been used to arrest a fall, as fall arrest equipment is only rated for one save.

So essentially every company that uses fall arrest and employs trained, competent fall arrest users can take care of itself, but as we all know this is not always the case. One such example is when companies do not assign individual harnesses to their personnel, and instead crews will share a handful of harnesses.  In situations like these, all of the competent users at the company are also all the principle users of the equipment, so how could one possibly satisfy the manufacturer’s the annual inspection requirements? Well, in cases like this, Northern Strands has you covered as well with our fall protection inspection service.  Simply drop off all of the gear you want inspected and let our in-house, competent fall arrest users take care of it for you.

If you ever have any doubts about inspecting your fall protection equipment, call Northern Strands and we can make arrangements to either teach you how to do it properly yourself, or we can inspect it for you.

For Fall Arrest Training or Harness Inspections:

Call 306-242-7073

Email: training@northernstrands.com 

website: https://www.northernstrands.com/training.aspx

The Alberta Provincial Government announced October 15, 2018 that a Farm Health and Safety Producer Grant Program has been developed to assist farmers with the costs of implementing the new Alberta OH&S Farming Legislation. 

Here is everything you need to know about the new Alberta Farm Health and Safety Producer Grant Program

Grant Details: 

• The Farm Health and Safety Producer Grant offers financial assistance to eligible farmers that have waged, non-family workers and a WCB account 
• Applicants can now apply for the grant that will pay up to 50% of the cost of eligible expenses up to $5,000 per year or $10,000 over the life of the program per applicant
• The program helps farmers comply with the OH&S code that will take effect on December 1, 2018. 
• The grant is available October 15, 2018 and runs until March 2021

Northern Strands' Bin Protection System is eligible for 50% off using this grant. Northern Strands also offers various safety training courses that are covered by the Alberta Farm Health and Safety Producer Grant. 

Northern Strands Bin Safe System Information: https://www.northernstrands.com/grain-bin-fall-protection.aspx 

Northern Strands Training Division: https://www.northernstrands.com/training.aspx

Grant FAQ: https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/general/progserv.nsf/all/pgmsrv482/$file/FarmSafetyFrequentlyAskedQuestions.pdf?OpenElement

Grant Application Form: https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/general/progserv.nsf/all/pgmsrv482/$file/FarmSafetyApplicationForm-Fillable.pdf?OpenElement

Grant Funding List: https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/general/progserv.nsf/all/pgmsrv482/$file/FarmSafetyFundingList.pdf?OpenElement

Grant Terms & Conditions: https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/general/progserv.nsf/all/pgmsrv482/$file/FarmSafetyTermsandConditions.pdf?OpenElement

Call, Text, or Email our Bin Safety Fall Protection Representative

Martin Toews
Email: farmsafety@northernstrands.com

Cell Phone: 306-441-6845

The Term MAF, also known as Maximum Arrest Force, comes directly from Section 102 of The Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 1996 under clause (c) which states that "An employer or contractor shall ensure that a personal fall arrest system required by these regulations...applies a peak fall-arrest force not greater than eight kilo-newtons to a worker..."

A kilo-newton is a force that is equal to approximately 225 lbs-force. Where the Saskatchewan fall-arrest legislation states Max Arrest Force is 8kN, this is equal to 1800 lbs-force. So how do we abide by this legislation and what does it mean?

In the Northern Strands Fall Protection course, they train that Personal Fall Arrest Systems should be a last resort, but S102(c) was put in place to make sure that the risk of injury from the fall-arrest equipment itself is reduced.

Over the last few decades worker safety in Canada has become an area of utmost importance for our government, companies and workers.   Worker fall protection safety has been a particular area of focus in safety regulations and culture across Saskatchewan and Canada. 

Did you know that Saskatchewan's Occupational Health and Safety Regulations states that, "An employer or contractor shall develop a written fall protection plan where:
(a) a worker may fall three metres or more; and
(b) workers are not protected by a guardrail or similar barrier."?

What constitutes a fall protection plan or system?  OH&S regulations state, "The fall protection plan required by subsection (1) must describe:
(a) the fall hazards at the worksite;
(b) the fall protection system to be used at the worksite;
(c) the procedures used to assemble, maintain, inspect, use and disassemble the fall protection system; and
(d) 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.
(3) The employer or contractor shall ensure that a copy of the fall protection plan is readily available before work begins at a worksite where a risk of falling exists.
(4) The employer or contractor shall ensure that a worker is trained in the fall protection plan and the safe use of the fall protection system before allowing the worker to work in an area where a fall protection system must be used."

Northern Strands Engineered Fall Protection Division recently completed a job where we installed an Engineered Fall Protection System for a commercial rooftop.  We completed the installation of two force management anchors on a standing seam roof.  Standing seam clamps are attached to the roof top. Bearer bars bridge the gap between two standing seams.  Anchor plates are the riveted to the bearer bars and the pull tested. Finally the anchors are assembled on the anchor plate and torqued.  These rooftop anchors are now ready for the customers use.

If you have questions regarding commercial rooftop fall protection plans, please contact the Engineered Fall Protection Division of Northern Strands at 306.242.7073, email lifelines@northernstrands.com or visit our webpage http://www.northernstrands.com/fall-protection.aspx

Northern Strands is COR safety certified and is a Mission Zero Charter Member. 

We are proudly Saskatoon, Saskatchewan owned and operated.

Northern Strands and it's employees recently received a letter of thanks and appreciation from Winsafe  Corp. regarding the launch of the SaskPower Poplar River Boiler Maintenance Work Platform (BMWP).  Northern Strands Suspended Access and Training divisions were instrumental in the successful launch of the BMWP.

Below is the testimonial letter from Winsafe:

"I would like to take a moment to thank you, Northern Strands, and the Northern Strands team for their contributions to the recent successful first launch of the SaskPower Poplar River Boiler Maintenance Work Platform (BMWP).

As you may be aware, while in transit to Saskatchewan, a number of training, certification, and documentation requirements were conveyed to us. Ray Nemethi’s efforts on the ground while our team was in the air were instrumental in making it possible for our employees to be able to perform work at the SaskPower site and to be in a position to successfully perform the launch. It clearly tooka great deal of coordination in a short period of time, and we are very thankful for those efforts.

Also, Ryan Green was able to travel to our hotel in Assiniboia on equally short notice to provide Fall Arrest and Confined Space certification training. We were impressed with his presentation and teaching skills and are likewise thankful for his efforts and his flexibility.

This project carries a very high profile and has been of significant importance for both of our organizations. The efforts put forth by Ray, Ryan, and other behind-the-scenes members of the Northern Strands team are certainly solid reminders of why we are pleased to be partnered with you."

What a great testimonial letter from Winsafe!   Thank you Winsafe!

Northern Strands is proudly Saskatoon, Saskatchewan owned and operated and are the official supplier of Winsafe products in Canada.