December 27, 2023
DE PERE – For the past 13 years, Dennis Sachs, Sesco Safety general manager, said the No. 1 OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) safety standard violation has been “fall protection.”
“That’s where we come in – we’re a fall protection safety company,” he said. “Sesco works with customers to minimize hazards and the risk of workplace falls wherever work is done at height. It can be any elevated workspace or rooftops, which contain mechanical equipment necessitating access.”
Sachs said companies vary in how much investment they put into fall protection safety.
“Some companies put safety as a mission priority with corresponding investment and others may cover the basics at best,” he said. “Safety is a part of company culture. We take fall protection to a higher level of ‘fall prevention.’”
The beginning
Sachs said Sesco began operations in 2002 in Manitowoc providing safety services, training and consulting and eventually grew into the fall protection space.
The company, he said, was acquired eight years ago by Kee Safety, a manufacturer of fall protection systems with operations globally.
“We have access to the best products and business resources from Kee Safety,” he said. “We also maintain sourcing with other manufacturer lines to provide the most beneficial solution option for a customer situation.”
Sachs said Sesco is “highly consultative” in working with customers to identify hazard areas and recommend safety protective measures.
“That’s in our mission of superior consultative customer service toward enhancing customers’ workplace safety,” he said. “Our team includes several personnel with more than 15 years of construction industry experience. Our technicians also have more than 10 years in fall protection. We have a learning environment where everyone is kept up to date with regulatory requirements and technical specifications.”
Recent relocation
This past August, Sesco relocated from Manitowoc to its current location at 1382 Plane Site Blvd. in De Pere.
“We had a great facility in Manitowoc but decided for the sake of our continued fast growth, the move was necessary,” Sachs said.
Dennis Sachs, Sesco Safety general manager, said there is a lot of traffic on roofs with hi-vac units, refrigeration and communication equipment. Submitted Photo
He said Sesco works with several local companies but also services companies nationwide.
“We have a crew currently working in Texas,” he said. “This past month, we have worked for customers in seven states. But it’s important to me we take care of our neighbors here in Wisconsin, and especially Northeast Wisconsin.”
Sachs said Sesco’s customers include manufacturers – of all types – as well as warehousing, transportation (train, plane) maintenance, commercial buildings, water towers and bridge structures.
More on fall protection
According to the OSHA website (osha.gov), an employer is required to provide fall protection at elevations of four feet in general industry workplaces, five feet in shipyards, six feet in the construction industry and eight feet in long shoring operations.
“Rooftop protection is significant and an area readily visible,” Sachs said. “There is a lot of traffic on roofs with hi-vac units, refrigeration and communication equipment. Aside from roof edge hazards, access points are often overlooked with their own requirements.”
In addition, OSHA requires fall protection to be provided when working over equipment and machinery, regardless of the fall distance.
To prevent employees from being injured from falls, OSHA requires employers to:
Guard every floor hole into which a worker can accidentally walk (using a railing and toe-board or a floor hole cover)Provide a guard rail and toe-board around every elevated open-sided platform, floor or runwayRegardless of height, if a worker can fall into or onto dangerous machines or equipment (such as a vat of acid or a conveyor belt), employers must provide guardrails and toe-boards to prevent workers from falling and getting injured.Other means of fall protection required on certain jobs include safety harnesses and lines, safety nets, stair railings and handrails.
OSHA also requires employers to:
Provide working conditions that are free of known dangersKeep floors in work areas in a clean and, so far as possible, dry conditionSelect and provide required personal protective equipment at no cost to workers.Train workers about job hazards in a language they can understand
“We do much work inside facilities corresponding with production areas and collaborating with safety, facility management, maintenance and engineering customer counterparts,” Sachs said. “We understand their operations when integrating necessary safety features.”
All fall protection systems, he said, are engineered to regulatory standards.
“Whether someone is attached with a harness or protected by guarding, we do the full gamut,” he said.
Sesco Project Manager Brian DeJardin said the company is capable of handling various types of operations and structures.
“We’ll start with a structural plan review, design and move through engineering, project management and installation,” he said. “Everything is compliant with OSHA standards. We then perform annual inspections of systems prescribed by ANSI (American National Standards Institute). Think of it as maintenance one does on any mechanical device.”
This is an example of a project Sesco Safety completed to encase a fall protection hazard. Submitted Photo
Sachs said Sesco also has a training division for various safety training types.
“Training minimally entails an annual refresher and is another way to keep us involved with our customers’ safety programs,” he said.
Final thoughts
Fall protection, Sachs said, is an important workplace obligation, and its absence can lead to injuries and even fatalities.
“OSHA reporting bears indication of gaps which are evident,” he said. “Four of the top 10 safety violations include elements of fall protection, including sufficient training. Safety is a preventative measure that can be difficult to justify until one considers the real cost of potential injuries. Many companies say they want employees to go home safely at the end of the day. That is what we help them do.”
For more information on Sesco Safety, visit sescosafety.com.