The Sky is Falling

When I was a second-year, I was working on the top of the highline. I had every tool with a lanyard on it except for my spray paint which of course I dropped from the highest point of the highline. It pinged off every pipe and scaffold on the way down and when it hit the ground it exploded in what can only be described as an atomic bomb of galvanized spray paint. This 100% should have been reported but my journeyman at the time said “look away, pretend it wasn’t you, we don’t know what happened” (Which is not an excuse… I should have reported it… But that’s for another post).  I remember I kept thinking “what if that hit someone?”. That’s just it… even the smallest tools, equipment or hardware dropped from heights can cause serious injuries… Even death. After this incident you can bet your bottom dollar that I never dropped anything again. Here’s a couple tips to make sure you don’t make the same mistake I did.

If you can, flag off the area below you. If nobody is in the drop zone under you, then nobody gets hurt. However dropping items from heights can also cause property damage so keep that in mind. If it’s not possible to flag off or if the risk of property damage is too great, then take precautions to stop things from even having a chance to fall. Use a tool net, put down a fire blanket under your work area and use tool lanyards. Only have what you need when working at heights, the less inventory you have up there the better. Don’t store tools at heights overnight. Night shift may not know they’re there, weather can pick up and move things around, it’s just a safe practice to bring them down every shift.

Dropping tools from heights is 100% preventable, but it’s up to you to do the extra work to prevent it.