Toolbox Talk · ~5 minutes

# Fall Protection Basics

Falls are the number one killer in construction. Not exotic accidents — routine work at height where the protection stayed in the truck because the job was 'just a few minutes.'

[Print the sign-in sheet](https://bluecraneworks.ca/tools?form=toolbox-talk-sign-in#form-library)
[All toolbox talks](https://bluecraneworks.ca/toolbox-talks.html)

## How to run it

Read it through once, then talk it — don't recite it. Five minutes
at the start of the shift, crew standing where the work happens.
Under O. Reg. 213/91, s. 14(3)–(4), the talk is held by a
supervisor or a competent person the supervisor appoints — and the
sign-in sheet is what proves it happened.

## Talk through these points

- Know your site's fall protection plan — anchor points, systems in use, and rescue. If you can't name the plan, that's today's problem to fix.

- Inspect your harness before each use: webbing, stitching, D-rings, buckles, and the label. Damage or a deployed shock absorber means it's done.

- A harness only works with the right anchor. Guessing at an anchor point is not an anchor point.

- Fit matters: snug legs and chest, D-ring between the shoulder blades. A loose harness turns a fall arrest into an injury of its own.

- Guardrails beat harnesses — engineering the hazard away beats strapping into it. Ask whether the edge can be railed first.

- A suspended worker after a fall is still an emergency — rescue has to happen in minutes, which is why the plan exists BEFORE the fall.

## Ask the crew

- Who inspected their harness this morning — actually looked at it?

- What's our rescue plan if someone's hanging on the east wall?

- Is there an edge on this job we could guard instead of harnessing?

The answers are the real talk. If a question lands on a live hazard,
write it down and assign it a name and a date.

## Paper it

A talk without a record didn't happen, as far as anyone who asks is
concerned. Print these free:

[Toolbox talk sign-in sheet](https://bluecraneworks.ca/tools?form=toolbox-talk-sign-in#form-library)
[Fall protection plan](https://bluecraneworks.ca/tools?form=fall-protection-plan#form-library)
[Harness inspection](https://bluecraneworks.ca/tools?form=harness-inspection#form-library)

## A new talk every week.

The toolbox talks page rotates a featured topic weekly — bookmark it, or grab the talk by email every Monday.

[This week’s talk](https://bluecraneworks.ca/toolbox-talks.html)
[Next: Slips, Trips & Housekeeping](https://bluecraneworks.ca/toolbox-talks/slips-trips-housekeeping.html)

[Heat Stress](https://bluecraneworks.ca/toolbox-talks/heat-stress.html)
[All 126 contractor forms](https://bluecraneworks.ca/tools#form-library)

## Next, from Blue Crane

- [**Safe Work Procedure template**Write the procedure this talk refers to](https://bluecraneworks.ca/safe-work-procedure-template.html)

- [**Field Level Hazard Assessment**The form the crew fills in before the work starts](https://bluecraneworks.ca/field-level-hazard-assessment-flha.html)

- [**Document Control Systems**Sign-offs, certs and safety records, provable in under a minute](https://bluecraneworks.ca/solutions/document-control.html)

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Source: https://bluecraneworks.ca/toolbox-talks/fall-protection-basics