The American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) has extended the effective date for the Z359 Fall Protection Code from Oct. 15 to Nov. 24. The move is an acknowledgement that safety, health and environmental professionals need more time to adjust to recommended safety practices.
The ANSI/ASSE Z359 Fall Protection Code is a series of newly approved voluntary national consensus standards written to offer more resources for employers to protect workers from fall hazards, which are one of the top four causes of on-the-job fatalities in the United States. By offering employers these new standards, the code intends to prevent fall-related injuries and deaths, especially when, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), fatal work-related injuries due to falls in the private industry amounted to 809 deaths in 2006, a 5 percent increase from 2005.
ASSE serves as the secretariat for the Z359 Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) on fall protection and related systems. The Z359 Fall Protection Code is available in both print and electronic format.
