Rescue Talk

Mission Driven, Safety Focused Content
January 31, 2012

Can your Rescue Team “Walk-the-Walk?” The Value of Performance Evaluations

As an employer with permit-required confined spaces, you’ll need to determine if your rescue team or selected rescue service can truly “walk-the-walk” when it comes to confined space rescue. OSHA’s Permit Required Confined Space Standard (1910.146) is “performance-based” – meaning it’s all about capabilities when the stakes are high.Conducting a performance evaluation of your rescue...

Read More

January 30, 2012

Five Fall Protection Myths to Counteract

Falls are the leading cause of worker fatalities. According to OSHA, each year more than 100 workers die and thousands are injured as a result of falls at construction sites. The fall protection standard, at 29 CFR 1926 Subpart M, details training and equipment requirements that employers must use to protect workers from falls. This...

Read More

January 20, 2012

NOTICE: Statement on special use of the Petzl Shunt

Petzl has published a statement addressing special use of the Petzl Shunt as a back-up device for industrial rope access.  For any users of the Petzl Shunt as a self-belay device such as tower rescuers, the same information applies. For Roco Tower Work and Rescue students who were taught the use of the Shunt as...

Read More

January 18, 2012

INVISIBLE HAZARD KILLS AGAIN

Roco Director of Training/Chief Instructor, Dennis O’Connell reviews the importance of following OSHA safety standards for confined space entry, no matter how many times workers have entered the space. The take away? With confined spaces…It’s NEVER old hat! The importance of preplanning confined space entries and identifying “potential hazards “should be old hat by now....

Read More

January 13, 2012

OSHA Violation Penalties on the Rise

According to statistics recently reported by OSHA, the number of workplace inspections conducted by federal OSHA in Fiscal Year 2011 fell to a total of 40,215, down 778 from 2010.  The agency attributes this slight decline in the number of inspections to the fact that many inspections, particularly those focused on health hazards and record...

Read More

January 10, 2012

On-Duty Firefighter Fatalities Down from 2010: USFA

The United States Fire Administration (USFA) recently announced there were 81 on-duty firefighter fatalities in the United States as a result of incidents that occurred in 2011. This represents an almost seven percent decrease from the 87 fatalities reported for 2010. The 81 fatalities occurred in 33 states, one U.S. territory, and one overseas U.S.military...

Read More

January 4, 2012

Tower Rescue: Essential Training in a Global Landscape

It is becoming more and more difficult to find a hilltop or a ridge in America that does not have some type of telecom tower placed on it. Likewise, there are many other types of towers popping up across the countryside and in our urban and suburban areas. Everything from wind turbine towers to high...

Read More

December 15, 2011

The Petzl story – It’s in the DNA

This is how Petzl began, in my father’s 75 square meter workshop. My family – my father, mother, brother, wife, and I – designed the first tools for verticality and the first underground lamps, which lead, in 1972, to the Petzl headlamp.

Read More

December 12, 2011

Trench Rescue…A thinking game

Roco Chief Instructor Randy Miller explains that trench collapse injuries and/or death is way too common in civil construction, and industrial maintenance projects. The sluggish economy entices organizations to cut corners, after all – time is money. This trend also extends to the homeowner and weekend warrior. Rather than hiring a certified/trained “trench” professional ,...

Read More

November 29, 2011

Preparing for the Forgotten Hazard: Rescue from Fall Protection

UPDATE: OSHA recently unveiled its top 10 most frequently cited violations for 2010, and topping the list is Fall Protection. With 7,139 violations, Fall Protection is still at the top, switching places with last year’s first place holder, Scaffolding. OSHA reported that 260 workers died in 2010 from falls, which continues to be the leading...

Read More