ISFP's Fall Protection Symposium to Dovetail with Safety 2008
Again this year, in conjunction with Safety 2008, the International Society for Fall Protection will hold a Fall Protection Symposium on Thursday and Friday, June 12-13. Designed for anyone concerned with the effectiveness of fall protection programs, the symposium will focus on understanding the new ANSI Z359 code and other issues surrounding the prevention of falls from heights, perennially one of the leading causes of workplace deaths and serious injuries.
In the United States in 2005 there were 662 fatalities from falls to a lower level, nearly two per day, ISFP notes. A decade earlier, in 1995, there were 573 fatalities. The overall number of work related injuries and deaths have decreased with the availability of advancements in technology. Yet, with all the advances in technology, the number of fall-related deaths and injuries are increasing--a trend seen not just in the U.S., but around the world. Among other topics, ISFP will devote parts of its symposium to answering why we have not seen a decline in the number of deaths and injuries related to falls and, in ISFP's words "begin to pinpoint a solution."
Among the event's featured speakers are Andrew Sulowski, P. Eng., ISFP's founding president as well as president of Sulowski Fall Protection Inc. He has more than 150 publications and presentations, including co-authoring and editing of the book Fundamentals of Fall Protection. He holds four American and Canadian patents in fall protection equipment and is also advising staff of the Canadian Federal and Provincial safety agencies on fall protection. Sulowski will share the stage with ISFP's current president, Randall Wingfield, who is extensively involved in the continuing development of national standards for fall protection equipment and training, both as president of Gravitec Systems Inc. and as an ASSE member. Wingfield is the chairman of the ANSI Z359 committee and former vice chair of the Canadian Standards Association Z259 Committee.
Joseph Feldstein and Wolfgang Schaeper will also be presenting. Feldstein is manager of Technical Services at MSA Fall Protection. He has 17 years experience in fall protection product design and standards development and is a member of the ANSI Z359 Accredited Standards Committee for Fall Protection and Chairman of the US Technical Advisory Group to the ISO Fall Protection Technical Committee, ISO TC94/SC4. Schaeper has been the technical superintendent of Bau-Berufsgenossenschaft (an employers' liability insurance association of the building industry in Wuppertal, Germany) since 1990. His many activities include convener in the field and technical committee of personal protective equipment against falls, as well as convener of CEN/TC 160/WG 5 rescue equipment since 1998. Since 2000 he has been convener of the German technical committee NA 075-03-01 AA protection against falls from height including working belts. He also is an active member of both CEN/TC 160/WG 1 general requirements and CEN/TC 160/WG 2 personal fall arresting systems, components and systems.
For more information about ISFP's symposium, visit www.asse.org/education/pdc08/fall-protection-symposium.php.