As safety director for Harmon Electric and Harmon Solar, one of my weekly responsibilities is to send out a weekly job site training sheet, which is commonly known as TOOLBOX TALK. This week’s TOOLBOX TALK will have to do with AERIAL DEVICES and CRANES, so I thought I might just use this opportunity and talk a little about crane use common sense, especially on rooftop solar installations.

It’s not uncommon for us to use cranes for the setting of light poles and sometimes to set electrical gear, and we always use a crane to set our solar panels at solar installations. On rooftops, with this comes a risk of danger and injury – here is a slogan I once saw. “If it’s in the air, it’s dangerous.” This is something everyone working around a crane should remember.

While using a crane to lifting and setting materials, be it on the ground or for a roof top, you should never stand or walk under the load or the crane boom, and you should always watch out for the swing, this could be just as dangerous as a falling load – when a load starts to swing from side to side, you could get pinned in between a stationary object causing injury, or even death.

Although cranes can make our work easier, they can also come with a high risk of danger and/or death – team work is always important on any job site. To help in the prevention of injuries when a crane is on site – team work should double.

Len
Safety Director

Most Solar panel systems are normally installed on the roof of either residential or commercial properties. This is not to say you cannot have a Solar System on the ground, it is just typical to have them on the roof. With this being said, when working on a roof there is potential exposure to fall hazards, and to avoid these hazards there must be Fall Protection Equipment and Systems that are to be used and followed according to OSHA’s standard 1926.502. The three most common (primary) methods of Fall Protection are guardrails, safety netting, and personal fall arrest systems.

The OSHA fall protection rule also lists other (secondary) systems and equipment you can use in certain situations. They are safety monitoring, warning lines, positioning devices, and controlled access zones. Here at Harmon Electric, we typically use one of two types of fall protection, and they would be, Personal Fall Arrest, and Safety Monitoring System. Our personal fall arrest system consists of an anchorage, connectors, harness, and lanyard, it may also include a deceleration device, lifeline, or suitable combination of them all. Our safety monitoring system consists of a warning line – a warning line must be erected around all sides of the roof work area, and consists of rope or wire, and supporting stanchion.

Len,
Safety Director