Risk Management Magazine

Identifying fall hazards isn’t always easy because appearances can be deceiving, often affected by our own perceptions. For example, if you’re 6 feet tall, you’re taller than a 4-foot-high platform, which makes it easy to assume the platform isn’t a fall hazard. On the other hand, if you’re standing on that platform, you are now looking down from a height of 10 feet. If you fall, even from 4 feet, you could be seriously injured.

Understanding the direction a safety program is headed — or why it’s moving that direction — requires knowledge of how the program evolved over the years. Successes and failures; mission and manpower changes; and, of course, regulatory changes are all contributing factors instrumental to moving forward.

Recently, it has come to the attention of the Sierra Army Depot safety office that there are still many misconceptions when it comes to health and safety responsibilities in the work center.