ISEA is seeking public comments in response to its proposed new standard dropped object prevention solutions. Currently designated as ISEA 121, the standard seeks to establish minimum design, performance, and labeling requirements for solutions that reduce dropped objects incidents in industrial and occupational settings.
An industry first, the standard focuses on preventative solutions actively used by workers to mitigate the potential effects of falling objects. Dropped objects include hand tools, instrumentation, small parts, structural components and other items that have to be transferred and used at heights. The implications from struck-by injuries can range from inconvenience or loss of productivity to life-altering injury or death. This is especially important in oil and gas, construction, energy and telecommunications infrastructure, shipping operations and aviation industries, where elevated work areas are common.
Regulators and safety professionals have acknowledged the serious risks of falling objects and are instilling rules to ensure proper precautions are followed in the workplace. “This initiative is a direct effort to fill the void in guidance on dropped object incidents, which have continued to rise in recent years,” said Boake Paugh, President of West Coast Corporation and member of ISEA’s Dropped Object Prevention Group. “ISEA’s members remain committed to making tomorrow safer than today and see this standard as a key element of any working-at-height safety program.”
Public review comments will be accepted until March 26, 2018.
In addition, consensus body members in targeted stakeholder groups are still being accepted. These reviewers submit comments and vote on approval of the standard; they are the final authority in determining whether a standard is submitted to ANSI for acceptance as an American National Standard. Consensus panel members are needed in the following categories:
- Government – An agency or department that has a regulatory or other interest in the product.
- General Interest – An organization that has a special interest in this standard due to safety, technical or other requirements or an individual expert with knowledge in the area(s) covered by the standard, but who neither produces nor uses products covered by the standard.
To obtain a copy of the standard under consideration, contact ISEA’s director of member of technical services Cristine Fargo. Note that there is a $20 charge for the document.
