Fall protection gear can also be found in a shipyard. I’m quite an observant person and I noticed this the first time I got on a boat on my way for a pleasure trip. As the passengers went up the ramp, our cargo was being loaded on the ship. I travel really light so I am amazed at the amount of baggage other people will bring. There are huge boxes being loaded on a platform that was lifted by a forklift, tied to a harness and slowly loaded on the back of the boat.
The crew are fully dressed in their protective gear. I see them wear hard hats and harnesses when they get on the same ramp with the cargo. It looked like a very dangerous job for me and I was right. During that trip, one of the ropes of the harness gave way and the platform tipped. All the boxes of cargo fell on one side and so did one of the crew members who happen to be on the same platform.
We’re not talking about small tiny boxes. These were huge boxes that seem to fit a giant screen TV that were on that platform. The man with the hard hat fell along with these boxes that crashed to the ground. Fortunately, his hard hat and harness protected him from the fall. The harness stopped his fall so he was left suspended a few feet from the ground. Some of the boxes hit his head and he just suffered a slight bump.
It was a good thing there were hazard signs all over the place and people were not around that area when the boxes fell. If there were no signs, there would probably have been more people hurt with that accidental fall of cargo boxes. Safety should always come first.