Escape and rescue in the construction industry

Maia: [00:00:03] Thank you to everyone. Joining us today. I'm Maia Foulis, editor of Canadian Occupational Safety, and I'm pleased to introduce today's webinar Escape and Rescue. In the construction industry, full risks are one of the most common workplace injuries on construction sites, and protection alone is not enough to ensure safety for all workers. Employers need to ensure a thorough rescue plan and proper safety training for employees working in high risk workplaces. So to answer your questions on this essential topic, it is my pleasure to introduce our speaker, John Fuke. John is a senior technical specialist on full protection at 3M. He's been in the full protection business for over 24 years, and his background includes serving on the Canadian Standards Association Technical Committee for Full Protection, as well as the American National Standards Institute equivalent in the US. So just a couple of notes before we get started at the end of the presentation will be welcoming audience questions, so please feel free to type any questions you have into the Q&A box within the webinar software. If you experience any technical difficulties or have any trouble hearing the audio, please use the chat box next to the Q&A icon to let us know. We also have a couple of poll questions, so we invite you to answer those when prompted, and we will be sending out a recording as well as a resource list to all attendees soon after the webinar. So with all that said over to you, John.

John: [00:01:37] Thanks very much. To get started, I'd like to go through a few opening points with respect to the webinar and our expectations from the webinar. This presentation is based on current US and Canadian requirements. The presentation contains an overview of general information and you should be used to rely upon to make specific decisions. Completing this program does not certify proficiency in safety and health. Information is current as the date listed for this presentation and requirements can be changed in the future. This presentation should not be relied upon in isolation. As the content is often accompanied by additional and or clarifying information or discussion. Three. Pardon me. Three. Am owns all rights in the presentation. Digital recording or reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission. Now, before we go on, I understand that there will be a bit of a pull going on with respect to whether or not all the users that are all excuse me, all the attendees have participated in or have a rescue plan in place for fall protection. I believe that that that poll will be going out in the chat box momentarily. So please take a moment to answer it as we go through the program. With respect to rescue, what is it that the news has to say when we read the newspapers or listen to listen to a newscast or the Web? Firefighters rappelled from a helicopter to rescue a crane operator. Local construction site. Worker left hanging alongside building, waiting for rescuers to save them. An employee from a local construction site is in hospital after being suspended for an hour after fall. These are the kinds of things that I'm sure that we're all used to seeing in the marketplace. One of the things we don't want to be able to hear is our own employees or our own coworkers saying, I was left hanging there for hours, waiting for them to figure out how to get me down. So those are some of the things that we're going to try to address today. Year after year falls continue to be one of the most common workplace injuries in the construction segment. Rescue plans in the act of rescuing a fallen worker are often one of the things that are most overlooked components within a fall protection training plan or rescue plan. Rescue plans are a necessity for employee employers who have workers at height. Many employers consider calling local emergency response agency a sufficient rescue plan. But first responders that arrive on the scene may not have the right equipment to save somebody at a certain height or from from a certain scenario, even if they have the right equipment, personnel and training. The time it takes to respond onsite may require the need to perform complicated technical rescues because the worker has become unconscious and unable to assist in their own rescue. In this presentation, we'll review the elements of a fall protection rescue plan. The ABCs of Rescue. How to rescue the need for how to reduce the need for potential rescue. Extending available time to rescue the rescuer. The rescue. Rescue hierarchy and successful rescue plan. Most jurisdictions require that employers with workers at height expedite a prompt rescue of a stranded worker. The effects of suspension, trauma and other injuries that have resulted that have resulted in the fall can lead to medical complications, including death in as little as 30 minutes. Because of these regulations and recommendations by standard bodies. It is strongly encouraged that employees no longer rely on external emergency response teams to develop their own internal rescue plans and practices to get workers down from heights after a fall or in some sort of an emergency situation. How can we give our workers more time in a suspension situation? Orthostatic intolerance or suspension trauma is a serious hazard for those who work at heights and is still relatively under-explored. Area of study suspension trauma. It can be known as harness induced pathology or orthostatic shock suspension trauma again. Is the development of near fainting symptoms and loss of consciousness as the human body is held motionless in a vertical position for a long period of time. Symptoms of orthostatic intolerance include but aren't limited to things like lightheadedness, headache, fatigue, weakness, shortness of breath, sweating, anxiety, heart palpitations and so on. After a worker's fault has been arrested by a full body harness, the suspended worker needs prompt rescue and assistance. Prolonged suspension can cause a pooling of blood in the legs and a reduction of return flow to the heart. The restrictions of the femoral arteries and veins cause the heart caused by harness straps can worsen or venous pooling. Other factors like pardon me injury, immobilization, a traumatic shock can speed the effects causing organ damage in the future. Due to the lack of empirical data available regarding suspension trauma casualties, there is no clear consensus on how quickly a person in distress must be rescued. The prevailing consensus is that rescue must be promptly and effectively carried out as soon as possible for the benefit of a suspended victim who is experienced to follow rescue. Industry has responded to the issue by creating suspension trauma straps. Which a fallen working worker can deploy from their hardest to reduce the strain from legs and shoulder straps while waiting to be rescued. They are a highly recommended and inexpensive addition to any harness. Generally, a person subjected to a fall arrest and harness suspension is considered an immediate danger and will likely require medical attention promptly upon rescue. In extreme cases, prolonged harness suspension can quickly progress to loss of consciousness and possibly to other injury, disability or even fatality. Suspension trauma safety straps are an easy and effective way to help delay and possibly help prevent the onset of negative symptoms brought on by orthostatic intolerance. Many fall protection equipment manufacturers include safety trauma straps in their harnesses. Or offer it as an add on accessory. Planning for fall protection is important in keeping employees safe while working at height. While companies may understand the importance of having the right equipment in place for fall protection, many fail to fully understand and address the issue of escape from heights and or rescue after a fall has occurred. An effective plan also helps protect the investment we have you have in your people, your businesses and your capital equipment. It helps you comply with the law and internal policies. And a good plan will help your incident preparation. The rescue plan is intended to reduce risks to an employee's health after a fall or event. The plan will also minimize the amount of at risk behavior for the rescuer during the rescue attempt and to help ensure that the rescue is conducted promptly in a safe and professional manner. Let's discuss this from a best practice perspective. Refer to your local regulations for the minimum requirements for a rescue plan. Often they will change jurisdiction to jurisdiction along with the recorded rescue plan. It must be actionable and implementable by the employees referencing it. Rescue offer options must be thoroughly considered and then practice so that if an incident occurs, workers are familiar with the steps required to perform the rescue. Learning the rescue procedure at the rescue site is never an option. If your plan indicates employees will perform an escape or self rescue or participated in assist in an assisted rescue, they must know how to actually perform these procedures. A good rescue plan is known by all involved. Everyone knows their role and everyone knows the responsibility. Successful execution of these steps will help in getting a foreign worker down in minutes, and that makes an effective rescue plan. Rescue plans can't be written generically and do not adapt from job to job. Falls and subsequent rescues do not occur in predictable manners. The rescue plan must be a living document. It must be updated as new equipment is brought onto the site. It must be read and understood by the workers who will be impacted by the information it contains. And it must be easy to understand. A rescue plan that merely sits on an office shelf provides no safety to workers, and can in fact, be a liability to the company. Look at the look at the rescue plan as we would when completing the job safety analysis. It could be used as a job safety analysis because we will identify job specific tasks for the work being done. In the work area. We want to identify things like any potential fall hazards. Location of work on the job site itself. Access to and from that location. Products required for fall protection. Significant contacts by a competent person, Qualified person, a trainer or an emergency contact. Specific tasks. Tasks performed by full protection users. Specific rescue tasks. As previously previously mentioned, it is essential that everybody understands their role and what they must do after a fall. We've talked about the employer's responsibilities. However, the employees also have some responsibility, and they have to be empowered by the employer to activate them. It starts by being trained and familiar with the fall protection program. Workers have to understand and be able to evaluate risks on their own when working at heights and have the ability to reach out to a competent or qualified person when faced with challenging situations. Their training must include how to use the equipment they are issued, and the employer must validate competency in the use of the fall protection and rescue equipment prior to allowing the worker to conduct work at heights. The employees must have a means and be willing to report unsafe working conditions and behaviors. They need to be familiar with and understand the company's rescue plan as long as they are not risking their own safety. They should be able to provide support to the fallen worker and if possible, initiate a prompt rescue. So what does all of this mean and how can a rescue plan be a living document? How can we treat it like a job safety analysis? Let's look and see if we can create a rescue plan for a specific work scenario. Two employees have been asked to perform a number of tasks in a building where they are to remove cables from a structure, inspect the structure for damage, and to touch up any damaged paint. The work location is approximately 33 feet or ten metres from the ground, and there's a work platform with a guardrail that you see in the photo. The work is being done on the opposite side of the platform. If the work is performed from it, it would result in an at risk behaviour of climbing up on top of the guardrail to access the cabling. Using a portable work platform is not an option because of the lack of space in the building. Because of the cable location, scaffolding is ruled out as a usable solution as well. It is therefore been decided that the use of an extension ladder will be the best option because of the height and concern of not pardon, of not being able to maintain three points of contact while performing the work. An SRL with a tagline will be connected to the beam prior to the work commencing from the ladder. So let's talk about creating a rescue plan for the work to be performed and documented like we would a job safety analysis. The rescue plan should be tailored to fit your needs. This particular form was created by 3M as a generic template to create a rescue plan. The workers and supervisor have reviewed the job site. They understand the work activities that must be performed and identified. How they were going to access the work location. Possible at risk behaviors were identified and in order to prepare a rescue plan. The process of considering things that could go wrong has been reviewed. On the rescue plan. We document the date, location and the scope of the work activity, which includes removing the cable, doing the inspection and any touch up painting. Two workers will activate work, will actively work on the jobsite while one is working at the other will assist business if necessary and be identified as the rescuer in the situation. Any time workers are at height, the employer should make sure that they can reach out to someone to help manage challenging for our protection fall protection situations. If the workers are concerned about their work and height and have questions about the need to change anchor points, or if they need to change to a difficult fall protection option, a competent person should be consulted. Additionally, an emergency contact has been identified in the method of communication has been documented. It is important that the competent person and especially the person listed as the emergency contact, is aware of their role and are available during the time the work is being done. The workers have planned for a primary rescue response as well as a secondary one. The equipment has been identified and documented. The latter will be the primary work surface, and if the worker were to slip from the ladder, the thought would be that it would still be used for the primary rescue device. However, contingency plans are in place should something go wrong. If the latter is unstable, or if the worker is not conscious and able to assist with. The rescue plan has been developed to use at least five or R550 and rescue pole to get the worker down from heights. The identified equipment is going to be on the job site, ready and available for immediate use. Critical rescue factors are documented, which include that the anchor point will be utilized for the rescue landing area or area where the work will drop down to. Obstructions or hazards associated with the rescue like energized equipment in the immediate area should be documented since this building has poor radio reception. The workers have acknowledged that they would have to step outside of the building to call for assistance if required. This particular rescue plan includes a checklist to assure common concerns of our workers are addressed before the start of each jobs rescue plan. These include things like alternative methods to perform the work without the need to go to to hide. In our scenario, we looked at an option working from a platform or using an articulating boom lift and scaffolding. We have verified that the rescue equipment identified earlier in this inspection is inspected and ready to go if needed. If the rescue equipment is adequate for the rescue plan. We have a communication device with us. And we also noted earlier that it may not function properly within the building and we may need to step outside in order to assure contact with others. All workers and especially the rescuer that has been identified, is familiar with and understands how to use the assigned rescue equipment to perform the rescue prior to work beginning. We have identified the need to ensure that the SRL of the tag line is connected to the beam prior to actually climbing the ladder. Having the work perform platform near the work area allows us to connect the SRL prior to climbing the ladder and allows the worker to be connected at all times. We identify the emergency contacts and acknowledge that they have been informed of the role. Regardless if the worker can perform a self rescue or an assisted rescue, it can be performed. The rescue rescuer gets an emergency response system activated as quickly as possible and prior to performing the rescue. All information is included on the rescue plan. In our scenario, the rescue plan is a one page document. In less than a few minutes, we have addressed the work to be performed, the equipment to be issued, safety to use safety at work, working at heights, and the rescue methods. If things do possibly go wrong, workers are now better prepared in the event of an accident and have the right equipment available to handle the situation. In this next section, we'll address the ABCs of Rescue. In our ABC's Fall Protection the stands for Descent and Rescue. In order for D or B to be successful or even happen, we must make sure that A, B, and C are up to the task. And employees have received E or adequate education and training. Our workers must therefore select the right anchor, the right body support device, or harness the right connector, the proper descent and rescue equipment. And they all have to receive the proper education and training on the use of all the above equipment. Using the scenario and the rescue plan we filled out earlier. Let's take a look at selecting the ABCs in this particular scenario. Since the beam is going to be our anchor, the Anchorage Connector is going to be a fixed beam anchor attached to the B. I am A. This will allow us to connect the SRL item, see the connecting device and keep it above the worker for maximum protection. A standard fall protection harness with a dorsal ring was selected for item VR body support device. The SRL. will be equipped, especially with a tagline, to allow the worker to attach at ground level. This provides protection the moment the worker steps on the ladder. We have determined that there are a few rescue options, including the ladder for self rescue and assisted rescue. We also want to be prepared if things do not go as planned and identified a rescue pole and the rest of the list are R550 as another tool for assisted rescue. The last part of the fall protection ABCs is education. Every employee that will work at height needs to be educated on fall protection and the equipment they use to protect themselves at height. Competent and qualified persons that are used within the system require additional training. Proper, proper education pulls all of the ABCs together and makes them a viable tool. Okay. The best rescue is one that never has to take place. But every employer sending workers to hike must be prepared just in case. Having the right preparation to safety safely retrieve a person who has fallen from an elevated work surface and is suspended in a full body. Harness can make a world of difference. The plan should address all levels of rescue, including self rescue, assisted rescue, and how to manage situations where an advanced technical issue or rescue needed. Advanced Technical Rescue is both time consuming and complicated to enact. It is better to find an alternate rescue option, which is easier to deploy and require less time for setup. Whenever possible equipment should be used that permit the victim to rescue themselves after fall, depending on how far they fall. It might be as simple as pulling himself back onto the platform ladder or a nearby structure. Fall arrest systems like self retracting lifelines, vertical lifelines or ladder climb safety systems often arrest the fall in such a short distance that the victim is able to climb them, climb back to safety for themselves. The type of connector can often make a difference between self rescue and assisted rescue. Looking at fall clearance charts for lanyards and SRLs, we see a dramatic difference. Greater clearances required for lanyards. Oftentimes roughly 17 feet or five and one half meters of clearance is needed below the anchor point of the lanyard. If the worker falls the complete distance and opens a shock absorber or energy absorber completely, self rescue is almost impossible because of this distance. Self retracting lifelines or vessels are designed to stop a fall shorter in a shorter distance. For the length of an SRL changes as the worker moves, the SRL locks up quickly and the rest can rest fall within three and one half to four feet. This shorter distance can give the worker the opportunity to self rescue as described earlier. The conversation a pardon me, a conversion to self rescue. Self retracting lifelines can make a difference and shorten the time a follower worker stays suspended in a given situation. When an employee is unable to pull himself to safety. Others working nearby must assist immediately. These workers must be trained, know the plan, and know how to use the equipment. Depending on the severity of the situation, you might want to call the emergency response team anyway. The worker may still need medical attention even after they are rescued. We do not want to delay medical treatment. But don't want to wait for them to arrive. Remember, you need to get the employee down as quickly as possible. Rescuers can use nearby lifts, ladders and mobile equipment to rescue a fallen worker. Much of this equipment is readily available on job sites and is often nearby, but are often overlooked when doing a rescue plan. An aerial lift is typically the best option. Articulating boom lifts can maneuver around structural steel and other elevated obstacles, which makes access to the worker slightly easier and reduces the likelihood of an exposure of the rescuer to a fall as well. A portable ladder or utilizing an articulating boom lift or scissor lift are all simple methods to perform an assisted rescue. Many of these items are readily available and are equipment that our employees are very comfortable working with since they use them on a daily basis. Be aware of the tools you have around you. Assisted Rescue also includes the use of pre engineered rescue systems. Some of these systems may look technical using ropes and pulleys, but they don't require the user to make adjustments to the system in order for them to be to be used. They can be pulled from the storage bag connected to an anchor point and then connected to the worker. These systems use the same type of carabiners and snap hooks as used in other pieces of fall protection equipment allowing for ease of use. Some devices like the our rescue SRL have a built in rescue option. This device can be set up in one or two one of two modes. The automatic setting will descend the worker after it is arrested. The fall in the second mode. It requires that a rescuer with an extension pull with a fork like and to slide the fork under the activation selector. Once the SRL locks up and absorbs the energy of the fall, the rescue rescuer uses the fork to activate the descent mode in the SRL and the worker is lowered to safety. Make sure that the landing zone for the worker is clear of obstructions before lowering the worker. They are R550, which is the item of the far right is identity, which is also identified in our rescue plan, is a bi directional device that can be used to raise or lower a worker by turning the rescue wheel or hub. It can be done by hand or with a power drill to help facilitate the rescue. Technical rescue is another option we discussed earlier for rescue at heights. Technical Rescue requires team members to spend hundreds of hours in initial training and even more in continuous education and practice for their skills. Often we think about our local firefighters as a potential technical rescue team, even though most have some training in rescue and technical rescue. Not all of them are truly part of a technical rescue team. In reality, only a small percentage of firefighters are technical rescuers, and that might remove them from this equation. Technical rescue is done by special, specialized, dedicated teams that may use rappelling as a primary method of reaching a fallen worker. They create and use long haul systems with specific mechanical advantages. They tie a lot of knots knowing how each one will affect or reduce the overall strength of the system. These teams might cut ropes and lanyards, all of which we don't want to do in India in the industrial setting. On a construction site. We want to keep rescue simple. Most of our workers are not going to be proficient enough to repel down from from heights to rescue someone. If we find ourselves in a situation where technical rescue will be our only solution or our backup plan, we will need to rely on outside specialists. If we decide that a team of specialized rescuers are going to be needed as part of the rescue plan, we need to make sure to evaluate the service and determine that the team has both the capacity capability and can ensure an adequate rescue response time. The rescue service must be informed in advance of any potential hazards that they may confront during a rescue. And finally, rescue services must be given the opportunity to practice with you at your worksite. This can be challenging on a construction site. How do we reserve the time and the manpower to allow the rescue team to practice while maintaining a tight job schedule? Any time we have workers at heights, we need to ensure that we have a rescue plan. The rescue plan doesn't have to be complicated. And as we've seen, the plan should be very task specific, review each individual job and document how we plan to work safely and what measures we plan to take if things go wrong. Additionally, every worker needs to know what the plan is, that the plan exists, and they need to know the role that they play within the park, within the plan as part of the rescue. Rescue from heights needs to be simple and almost automatic. We can make this happen by providing workers with the appropriate equipment for the task, not just the job. There should never be any guessing on what is acceptable or required and decisions on what, how and why should be made from the employee prior to beginning the work. Considering the rescue plan like a job safety analysis, will also help ensuring all of this can happen at once. So we're going to go through a quick video of the job that we discussed earlier. And as we do, I'll put a running commentary with respect to what's happening in the video as best I can. So in our scenario, we identified the work and how the work was planned by the workers. We identify the possibility that the worker could slip from the ladder and the SRL would be used in the event of a fall. Our initial plan occurred itself rescue, where the fallen worker would reach out and climb back onto the ladder. And the ladder is also considered the primary assisted rescue device as it could be repositioned by the rescue if needed. However, we took into consideration that things could go wrong, so we'd assume that we have having the R550 with rescue coal present on the job and that's where this scenario is going. Our worker from the extension was disconnecting the last cable to work a lost control the cable and it wrapped down on the ladder. During the incident, the former worker became unconscious and was unable to assist with his own rescue. The ladder was also damaged by the cave. The assigned rescuer sprang into action, immediately activated the rescue emergency response system by calling for help. He brought the R550 up to the work platform above the worker, safely working from behind the handrail. He installed an ankle strap, which is included in the R550 kit and wrapped it around the beam and the RR550 was connected to the strap. The rescue pole was removed from the case and the rescue hook was connected to the end of the pole. The rope is now pulled out of the RR550 and lowered to the worker to ensure the proper link is available. The snap hook of the RR550 is connected to the rescue hook and attached to the rescue pool. Maintaining control of the RR550 rope and extending the length of the rescue pole. The worker connected the rescue hook to the dorsal ring of the fallen worker, which is what he's doing right now. Reaches down and he hooks into the drain. And that allows connection to the 500. The rescue pole was secured and then the rescuer removed the slack in the system as this was done. Pardon me? The rope was placed in the lock and cleats, and then the rescuer began to raise the worker by turning the hand wheel. While raising rope. Slack was removed by pulling the rope through the lock and cleats. Rope is locked into the cleats. And now he'll begin to raise the worker on the SRL with the RR550 while periodically taking the slack out of the rope. Since this SRL is long enough to allow the fallen worker to reach the ground, the rescue rescuer only needs to raise the worker high enough to unlock the SRL.Once that is accomplished, the rope can be removed from the cleat and the worker descent can begin. The system will consent. Will control the descent to the ground automatically. Assisted rescue doesn't have to be complicated and can be done quickly and efficiently by having a fall protection plan that includes rescue in the in place. Rescues can be made easily, helping the victim to safety faster. They are R550 and similar devices can also be used to escape from from higher heights. When employees working on a tower crane, for example, need to escape from a hike. The same equipment that was used in our rescue can be used. The R550 would be connected to the structure with the web tie off adapter. The worker would then don a harness and connect themselves with the snap hook of the R550. Once the worker then steps away from the structure, the R550 will control the descent speed, allowing the worker to smoothly and safely return to the ground below. In general, the R R550 would control the speed to about three and a half feet per second. So let's summarize. Five Fourfold Protection Escape and rescue planning must be top of mind for organisations with workers of type. Take all these factors into consideration as you develop a plan to ensure the safest operation possible for the health and benefit of your workers. Give your workers extra time by including suspension trauma straps with every harness. Make sure you have the appropriate ABCs for each task at hand. Provide workers with the training and ability to self rescue tools for coworkers to perform an assisted rescue and if a technical rescue team is required. Evaluate the work with those teams to ensure that they can respond quickly and appropriately. With advanced planning, user friendly rescue equipment and practice procedures. And that's a key practice procedures. A rescue plan can help save lives. So what do we want the news to say at the end of the day? Rather than what we read earlier. A crane operator at a construction site escapes on his own as flames rage below. So successful rescue on his own self rescue. Swing stage scaffolding collapse. What companies rescue plan prepared workers for such an event. Rescue plan is in place. The workers were able to be rescued or self rescue themselves. Employee from local construction quickly release from hospital after a fall on jobsite and rescued by co-workers. So an assisted rescue on a job site successfully taking place. At the end of the day, we'd rather hear our employee say something like, Once I fell, my buddy's had me down in minutes than what we heard in the previous slide. I hope this was of some benefit to you, and if you have any questions, I'd be pleased to take them. I'll turn this back over.

Maia: [00:39:08] Okay. Thank you. So big thanks to to John for a great presentation. So we're going to turn to the audience questions now and already thank you to all those who have sent questions. And as a reminder, we will be sending out a recording as well as a resource list to all attendees soon after the webinar. And just before we launch into the questions, we do have an open poll question for you to answer. So if you would like to discuss your escape and rescue plan with a 3M. specialist, don't hesitate to click. Yes. So let's launch into the questions. Maybe starting with So are companies required to have a written rescue plan?

John: [00:39:53] Generally speaking, each jurisdiction has slightly different requirements, however. It's on the Canadian side provincially. You would have to go through the regulations to determine what is exactly required on the US side. Osha will document the requirement for a rescue plan. So in short, the answer is you should have a rescue plan that is written and again, that is site and job specific for every application.

Maia: [00:40:21] Okay. Perfect. And so Tony asks, what is the recommended rescue time when suspended in a harness barring no other injuries?

John: [00:40:34] Again, that's a very, very difficult question as we went through earlier in the presentation. A lot of that depends on the health of the worker. It depends on the type of trauma that they suffered in the fall, for example. It also it also is relevant to how the harness, for example, is fitted to the person. So all of those things would generally have to be answered specifically to the victim. However, generally speaking. In any situation. If we're going beyond half an hour, we're probably going to be in trouble. And many jurisdictions or many sources of information often require that that the person or the victim be rescued much, much sooner than that. So the ideal answer without having a definitive a definitive answer from from the information provided to us in the marketplace. Is that the sooner the better. So if you can make the rescue instantaneous, that would be ideal. Where you can't make it instantaneous, make it as quickly as possible. And again, if the user has the option to use something like a trauma strap, they have the option to prolong their hang time a little bit and give you a little bit more time to execute the rescue. The unfortunate thing is that there is no single answer to that question, so the ideal answer at this point in time is get them down as quickly as possible.

Maia: [00:42:13] Okay. Perfect. So another question here. How much training is the employee required to have in rescue to use a product like the R550.

John: [00:42:27] The R550? The really good thing about a product like the R550 is that there is no continual training process. Once the user is familiar with the product, a refresher once a year is probably adequate to keep them current. It's quite a simple device to use. Once they are trained. Probably in a daylong training class, they can be ready to go. So again, it's designed to be an off the shelf kind of product that's easy to implement, easy to use, and doesn't require a lot of training, like something like rope technical rope rescue.

Maia: [00:43:06] Okay. And then we have a question from Akshay. So what would be a rescue plan for someone suspended by harness from a scissor lift?

John: [00:43:22] That's a really good question. And I'm assuming that the person is on the outside of the scissor lift. And if that's the case and the scissor lift is still operational and there's nobody in the scissor lift to help them, the ideal scenario would be to lower them on the scissor lift as long as they can be kept clear away from the mechanism. Otherwise, you're going to have to employ a secondary lift to get to that person and get them down as quickly as possible either a ladder, a long extension ladder, or some form of other lift that could be available to them. The second opportunity. The second option. Is is not viable. And that was something like the Rescue SRL that we talked about because the nature of the beast with with all electric platforms is to keep the person within the platform. Should a should should a fall occur. So keep them in the cage so you can employ something like an SRL. So another lift would be required.

Maia: [00:44:30] Okay. And obviously, another question here. So all these rescues demonstrate the rescue above, the worker needing rescue. What about rescue when below the individual needing rescue?

John: [00:44:47] If you're. I'm not sure I understand the question. Run me through that question again, Maia.

Maia: [00:44:51] Sorry. I wish I could help you. So all these rescues demonstrate the rescuer above, the worker needing rescue. What about rescue when below the individual needing rescue?

John: [00:45:04] Well, in certain circumstances, we just talked about one in the electric platform or the scissor lift, for example. You're going to have to go up to the individual. Again, it's dependent on the rescue plan and what you've got in the rescue plan in certain circumstances. You may have the rescue or all that we talked about earlier, wherein if the person falls, they're arbitrarily or automatically released by the system. After the fall, energy has been absorbed and lowered to the ground automatically. In other scenarios, you may have an rescue or an AR 500 type device in play already when the person is up in the working area. And your job would be controlling it with a redirect from the ground. So the R550 is on the ground going up to a redirect at the top to lift them off the SRL that they may have fallen on, for example, and then be lowered. And then the other alternative is to get into a technical rescue as well. Again, each one of those scenarios is different depending on the actual situation. So there may be other tools that can be employed to rescue from the ground when somebody is in there. So, again, it's job specific.

Maia: [00:46:21] Okay. And another question here. So in the rescue scenario you presented, you never disconnected the SRL because you said it was long enough. How would you perform the rescue if the worker was attached to a standard web lanyard?

John: [00:46:37] You would do a similar program, a similar process. And what what would be used in that particular case is a rope grab type device that's installed in order to lift the person onto the R550. So you would snag the lanyard with the rope grab device. It would be used in an upward fashion. You would raise the person from the lanyard until you could unhook the lanyard from the anchorage and then you would lower them on the R550 in that manner.

Maia: [00:47:15] Okay. Perfect. So Brian asks, can 911 be your primary for rescue?

John: [00:47:26] To answer, Brian. Not necessarily a good idea for the reasons that we discussed earlier. 911 are generally not equipped to do fall arrest rescues. It's not their primary task. Ideally, you never know if your fire department is off on another call or stretched to the point where you're getting a call from a farther geographic location than you expect, which would take more time. And as we've already identified, time is of the essence with respect to somebody in a suspended suspension and tolerance situation, orthostatic intolerance and tolerance situation. So what's ideal? The other side of the coin is, is that they may not have the gear for that specific rescue that may be required on a given site. So having them as your primary is probably not a good idea. For the simple matter is that they're not necessarily equipped, nor may they may not be available at the time that you need them for specific rescue.

Maia: [00:48:36] Okay. Thank you. And just to remind the audience that if they have any questions, please put them in the Q&A tab. So we have a question here from Colin. John, where can you anchor the rescue equipment? What strengths are required and can you use the same anchor from where the worker fell from lanyard or SRD?

John: [00:49:01] These are all things that you have to take into account in the planning process. So when you're doing your primary research for the planning process based on the jurisdiction that you're in, you're going to have different requirements for rescue anchors in an extreme pardon me, in an extreme situation. Or there may only be certain anchorages available. You may have to duplicate the fall or rest anchor on the rescue anchor. You may not have a choice, but ideally you're going to look for something in around the £3,000 range. And that's kind of what you're going to look for a rescue anchorage. What was the other component in that question? Sorry.

Maia: [00:49:41] I'll just I'll just reread it. So. So where can you anchor the rescue equipment? What strengths are required? And can you use the same anchor from where the worker fell from again?

John: [00:49:53] So I did the last 2/1. So where can you anchor you anchor wherever you could. Anchor fault protection equipment, generally speaking that that would meet the requirement discussed. Again, jurisdiction to jurisdiction. So in a in a given situation, you might also have to find improvised anchors in the rescue. If the Anchorage Connector for the fall arrest is compromised. So those things all have to be taken into account when the planning phase is taken on. And that's why it's important to do a fall protection rescue plan. It allows you to to work in those contingencies so that you're prepared when you go onto a job site with a second, probably a primary and a secondary anchor for rescue. So I think that would be a prime mover for developing a rescue plan.

Maia: [00:50:47] Okay. And we have a few minutes left. So again, if you have any questions, feel free to to drop those in the in the Q&A. So another question. So your scenario had a nice work platform for the rescuer. That is usually not an option. How would you perform a rescue when you cannot get above the worker?

John: [00:51:12] I think that's the same idea that we were just talking about with respect to doing redirects, etc., from the ground. There are different options available to you from a redirect perspective. In certain circumstances, it may be as simple as bringing a ladder to the victim. It may be as simple as getting a lifting device that's that's near you employed in the rescue. So there are a variety of different scenarios here, and they're all dependent on the task at hand. Again, we go back to the same. Discussion of having an action plan or a rescue plan in place to identify the issues should it be from the ground rescue? What are the things that I need? What are the tools that I need? So there are various ways of doing it. Again, with the plan in place, it will allow you to identify by going and going through your ABC list of items. This is the gear that I need to execute this rescue. Should we have to do the rescue from the ground? Again, a variety of different gear available, a variety of different options available. And at the end of the day, there's always technical rescue.

Maia: [00:52:23] Okay, perfect. So Jeff asks, what are the approximate ascent descent rates of the rollgliss 550 with the power drill.

John: [00:52:36] It depends on the strength of the power drill. You're not going to use the power drill for dissent. You're going to allow the break mechanism in the device to descend. And it's roughly three and one half feet per second. So it's a little slower than the SRL, and that's why the SRL won't lock up. If you keep the SRL. on the workers back in the descent from the ascent mode, I don't exactly remember. I'll have to go and re consult my numbers. But I'm going to say it's somewhere in the neighborhood of about. Two and a half feet per second.

Maia: [00:53:19] Okay.

John: [00:53:19] Again, depending on the power of the drill.

Maia: [00:53:22] Okay. And we have another.

John: [00:53:25] Unless, I should clarify there is that you don't necessarily want to use the R550 for lengthy, lengthy ascents. It's designed to get the worker that the ascent mode is designed to get the worker off the device in order that that a descent can be placed. If you're doing something like a ten foot ascent, a three metre ascent, you probably okay getting into longer ascents is probably not a good idea.

Maia: [00:53:51] Okay. So another question. So can a self rescue backpack be used suspended by scissor lift? And what if there is no other elevated work platform present at the worksite?

John: [00:54:13] If. If you're talking about the backpack, first of all, the backpack requires to be anchored overhead. So if you've already left the bucket, I would assume that you could use that. I'm not completely familiar with the product because it's not sold here in Canada. So again, it would be a be taken account during the planning phase with respect to whether or not it can be used. The second part of the question was.

Maia: [00:54:46] Oh, I'll ask that again. Yeah. So what if there is no other elevated work platform present at the work site?

John: [00:54:54] That would be again taking account in the planning phase. If you have somebody in an elevated work platform, but you have no other way to access to access them, should the machine break down or should they become unconscious or should it become incapacitated? That's something that should have been taken care of in the planning process with respect to having either a subsequent device on site or a ladder system or some other way of reaching that person when they're in the bucket. You can use other defenders in that scenario if the person is awake, but then you're again in a in a in a self rescue scenario versus an assisted rescue. So that should be taken taken into account in the planning process.

Maia: [00:55:42] Okay. Wonderful. I think that might be all the questions. There is a couple of minutes left. In case someone has any last minute question to ask. But perhaps, John, while we're waiting, is there is there anything else you think would be valuable to share with your, with the audience?

John: [00:56:02] I think what's really important with respect to developing a rescue plan is, is the KISS principle. You have to keep it simple. The more. Complex you get. The more people you involve, the more difficult it is to control and to train everybody and have them ready. One of the key aspects of a difficult rescue and let's let's go back to the from the ground redirect rescue, where you're redirecting the R550 or other similar device is to practice it. If you go on the job site and you expect to to act first chance or first opportunity, rescue somebody without a glitch. It's the chances of that are quite slim. So again, one of the key elements of the planning process is practice, practice, practice, make sure you're aware of what you do. And the more complex your scenario, the more practice you should probably be doing. And I know it's difficult for people to to assign time and to get them off the work floor or the job site. But that's how you get proficient in self rescue and rescuing those around you.

Maia: [00:57:20] Okay. We actually have one last question, but before I ask that, just to remind everyone watching today that if you you do require more information from 3M, please feel free to answer the poll question, which is still open. So one last question from Dan. So does 3M provide tech rescue training?

John: [00:57:47] We do provide assistance in training and we can provide some assistance with respect to rescue planning. The training would come from our fall protection training group, company or division, and they would actually be able to help you with specific scenarios and general use of descent and rescue devices. So the answer is yes.

Maia: [00:58:12] Okay, perfect. Well, I think that would be everything for the question. So that wraps up our Q&A. So thank you to the audience for joining us today. And thank you so much to John for sharing his insights. And don't forget to keep an eye out for our upcoming webinars. So thank you again, everyone, and enjoy the rest of your day.

John: [00:58:35] Bye now.