• Are you concerned about potential falls from height at your workplace?

• Do your workers need more training in recognizing fall hazards?

• Does your fall protection program consider all the angles when evaluating these hazards?

Roco’s new Fall Protection courses can help create a safer workplace by equipping employees with the knowledge to better assess the dangers and take protective steps to abate common fall hazards. Participants will practice Fall Hazard Assessments and will be able to look at their worksite with new eyes concerning fall protection safety.

Roco’s new Hierarchy of Fall Protection Safety Poster provides guidance on how to protect your workers from fall hazards by illustrating a series of steps in making safer choices as job duties are approached. It clearly explains the need for employers to make every attempt to abate fall hazards at their work sites by starting with the most protective level of fall protection. OSHA and ANSI references are used to emphasize the need for proper training and “fallen or isolated worker-at-height” rescue pre-plans when appropriate.

This safety poster will provide a quick reminder that oftentimes working at height is more hazardous simply because more “protective steps” in the hierarchy were never considered.

By displaying this poster in strategic areas, we hope it will encourage all workers to take every opportunity to make work-at-height even safer. After all, for those of you who know Roco…there’s a safe way, and a SAFER way!

Click the picture to download the PDF version of the NEW Hierarchy of Fall Protection Safety Poster.

Roco is excited to announce that beginning in 2014, we will offer a ProBoard/IFSAC option conducted by the Carrol L. Herring Fire & Emergency Training Institute for select Roco courses at the Roco Training Center (RTC) in Baton Rouge. Students choosing the ProBoard option will complete both a written and skills exam. Upon successful completion of this certification process, they are then eligible to be entered into the ProBoard’s certification registry.

The first Roco course to offer FETI’s accredited certification testing will be our Fast-Track 80™ course to be held on February 20-22 & 24-28, 2014. There is an additional charge of $100.00 per student, and advance registration is required. Call us at (800) 647-7626 to register and reserve spaces or get more information.

The ProBoard is an internationally recognized professional organization that represents the fire service and related emergency response fields. The ProBoard accredits organizations, such as the Carrol L. Herring Fire & Emergency Training Institute, that provide certification testing to the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) professional qualification standards. The International Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC) is a peer driven, self-governing system that accredits both public fire service certification programs and higher education fire-related degree programs.

Visit ProBoard's website  or watch their video about the benefits of seeking fire service certifications through a ProBoard accredited entity.

Here's a video from Roco's Rescue Tech II training course conducted at Marathon Petroleum in Robinson, IL on August 19-23, 2013. The local NBC affiliate (WTWO) produced the feature which shows how plant responders train and prepare for confined space rescue emergencies. Roco instructors Chad Roberson and Bobby Kauer led the training. Thanks to all involved for sharing this video!

To submit a story or video about your rescue team or training experiences, please email us at: RescueTalk@RocoRescue.com. We want to hear from you.

NOTICE: If you are involved in any kind of confined space work or rescue, you need to read this document and offer your comments. This applies to anyone who may work in or near confined spaces, both industrial and municipal.

At a meeting earlier this month, NFPA’s Guide for Safe Confined Space Entry and Work (Draft) was approved for public comment by the NFPA Standards Council.

This document is designed as a “best practices” guide for those who work in and around confined spaces. As with any document that attempts to be all inclusive, it may work well for some while negatively affecting others. Therefore, it is very important that "WE" the public, the people who will be using this type of document in real world applications, offer our feedback. Now is the time to offer comments and suggestions. Comments as to what may or may not be feasible for your organization or what may have been overlooked in this document are a vital part of this NFPA process.

As contributing members for this document, we are encouraging you to take the time to make your suggestions in order to create a practical guide that will be user friendly and provide for greater safety when working in confined spaces. As you read it, please keep in mind that it is currently listed as a “Best Practices Guide.” However, this does not mean that at some point in the future it won’t possibly become an NFPA Standard.

This document could eventually affect the way you do your job, so it’s very important to all of us for it to be a safe, practical best practices guide. Every comment or suggestion must be addressed by the sub-committees. So, whether you agree or disagree, the time to offer your input is NOW!

Public comment will be accepted online until January 3, 2014. Go to www.nfpa.org/350. In order to comment, you must log in with your email and password – or you can quickly create an account.

Click here to download the PDF version. (Note: Download may take up to 3 minutes depending on your computer.)