SAFETY SPOTLIGHT
Integrating AI
Solving fall protection challenges with new technology
By Philip Jacklin
Is no industry safe from the spread of AI? It would appear not. Because, as this article is being written, many fall protection providers are using AI to aid in the design, fabrication, installation and lifetime maintenance of their fall protection equipment.
As prudent as most people are to integrate new technology into critical safety systems, we must remember the urgency at stake in preventing fall deaths in the workplace.
Currently, falls are the leading cause of injury and fatality on construction sites. According to the International Powered Access Federation( IPAF), the top mobile elevating work platform( MEWP) categories involved with fall incidents are scissor lifts( 26 %), self-propelled boom lifts( 24 %) and vehiclemounted lifts such as bucket trucks( 18 %).
From 2012 to 2022, approximately 55 % of falls reported to IPAF resulted in a worker fatality. With a near
one in two chance of surviving a fall, preventing the fall altogether becomes a much more sensible and safer solution.
Fall Protection Requirements Federal OSHA regulations 1910( General Industry) & 1926( Construction) require employers to provide fall protection when employees are exposed to falls of greater than 4 feet or 6 feet, respectively. At those heights, OSHA deems guardrail, safety netting or personal fall protection systems as equally acceptable mitigation methods.
However, depending on the height of the fall hazard, not all solutions will be equally feasible. Furthermore, some companies believe that minimum compliance is sufficient to protect their workers, while others believe that more proactive measures are needed to reduce risk as much as possible.
Scissor lifts, boom lifts and other
MEWPs are an excellent solution for elevated work as they incorporate multiple forms of fall protection simultaneously, especially on dynamic jobsites or busy facility floors.
First, almost all MEWPs have integrated guardrails to help protect the workers. And, as long as the worker is provided with a body harness and connection device, most MEWPs also contain an integrated anchor point that users can utilize for their personal fall arrest system( PFAS).
Currently, falls are the leading cause of injury and fatality on construction sites. According to IPAF, the top MEWP categories with fall incidents are scissor lifts( 26 %), self-propelled boom lifts( 24 %) and vehiclemounted lifts such as bucket trucks( 18 %).
26 l July-August 2026