With zero injuries being a top goal at Graycor Industrial, the month of May brings a greater focus on safety pertaining to falls as the company recently recognized Safety Week and National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction at its job sites.

For Safety Week, held May 1-5, 2017, Graycor workers at AK Steel’s Middletown, Ohio, site attended a lunch-and-learn event at their workplace on May 5 presented by Guardian Fall Protection, the top manufacturer and provider of safety products for America’s construction workers.

Richard Vaccaro, Guardian’s fall protection specialist, spoke about fall death and injury statistics in the construction industry, basics of fall protection including inspections, proper anchorage connection, and proper fit-up and donning. Richard also emphasized the importance of having a rescue plan in place in the event of a fall and demonstrated several types of harness and fall protection options.

In recognition of this year’s OSHA National Safety Stand-Down, held May 8-12, Graycor Industrial held a safety stand-down last week at MarkWest’s Sherwood complex in West Union, West Virginia, where construction of an eighth cryogenic plant and erection of an inlet pipe rack system are under way.

The stand-down took place to raise awareness of preventing fall hazards in construction.

“Perhaps no other single condition is as hazardous as a fall … yet fall hazards are among the simplest to prevent,” said Graycor Safety Representative Tim White, whose advice in the stand-down talk was simple: “Take control of your safety. Wear the proper protection equipment to ensure full protection from fall hazards. It’s one of Graycor’s cardinal rules.”