The future of SAFETY is now!

Edge Protection isn’t important until you need it. Edge Protection doesn’t add to the selling price of a building under construction. Edge Protection doesn’t help a bridge get built. Edge Protection doesn’t improve the effectiveness of a roof top to prevent water leaks. But, Edge Protection is the last line of defence or the last chance you may have from falling off an elevated structure.

Over the years Edge Protection has taken many forms from 2x4’s to wire rope to fabric straps as well as various types of mesh netting. Each offers some degree of Edge Protection and were practical alternatives in the past.

Today, engineered Edge Protection systems are readily available. These systems meet or exceed regulatory standards and while 2x4’s, wire rope and straps meet the minimum requirements of most regulation - do they really meet the safe work site expectations of workers when better solutions are available? Does meeting the minimum standard for safety align with your company’s brand, mission statement or a customer’s expectations of your company’s product?

Let’s do the math:

• A 2x4 top rail plus a 2x4 mid rail provide coverage for about 7.5 inches of the vertical fall zone or about 18% of the distance from floor to top rail remembering that there is a roughly 15 inch opening between the top rail and mid rail of a 2x4 Edge Protection system
• Wire rope provides as little as 2% leaving a fall zone opening of about 20 inches between the top rail and mid rail
• Fabric straps may be similar to a 2x4
• An engineered Edge Protection system provides 100% coverage for a human body falling towards an open edge

Consensus on accident data is that slips, trips and falls comprise the majority of worksite accidents. When people fall it is most often in a lunging almost diving motion, forwards or backwards. This is when the gapping opening left by earlier forms of Edge Protection provide little prevention.

So why would a company install 2x4’s or wire rope or fabric straps? Is construction cost the embarrassing answer?

Let’s talk real safety. Let’s install an engineered edge protection system for your project to protect your workers, your company, your people, your reputation.