Description

What this module is

This is the fall safety climbing module in Humulo’s OSHA library. A trainee inspects and dons a harness, clips a welding tool to it, then climbs a crane structure, anchoring at each point on the way up. They weld a crack at height, work from a middle platform, reset a breaker box at the top, and climb back down still using their anchor points. One run takes 30 minutes or more. It puts a trainee at height repeatedly without putting a trainee at height, which is the part a classroom cannot do and the part a real tower costs a day of production to arrange.

Module specifications

What a trainee actually does

It opens with the hierarchy of fall safety, five levels, and a quiz. Then the scenario: inspect the harness, don it, attach the required welding tool. Climb the crane ladder, using the anchor points on the way rather than after arriving. At the first crack, repair it with the welding tool, re-attach the tool to the harness, keep climbing. At the middle platform the trainee has to answer which anchor points are acceptable and which are not before anchoring and repairing a second crack. Then up to the top platform to reset the breaker box, and back down, anchoring as they go. The tool re-attachment step matters more than it sounds: a dropped tool from height is its own hazard, and trainees forget it under task load.

How this maps to OSHA 1910.28, 1910.29 and 1910.30, and where it stops

29 CFR 1910.28(b)(1)(i) requires fall protection for an employee on a walking-working surface with an unprotected side or edge 4 feet or more above a lower level, by guardrail, safety net or personal fall protection system. 1910.29 sets the criteria those systems have to meet. For fixed ladders, 1910.28(b)(9) is worth reading closely because it is on a clock: ladders extending more than 24 feet above a lower level and installed before November 19, 2018 may use a personal fall arrest system, ladder safety system, cage or well; ladders installed on or after November 19, 2018 must have a personal fall arrest system or a ladder safety system, and a cage or well no longer counts on its own. When a ladder, cage, well or any section is replaced, a personal fall arrest or ladder safety system goes into at least the replaced section. On and after November 18, 2036 every fixed ladder must have a personal fall arrest system or a ladder safety system. The training duty is 1910.30: under 1910.30(a)(1) training happens before an employee is exposed to a fall hazard, and 1910.30(a)(3)(i) through (iv) require it cover recognizing fall hazards, procedures to minimize them, installing, inspecting, operating, maintaining and disassembling the systems in use, and correct use including hook-up, anchoring and tie-off plus inspection and storage per the manufacturer. 1910.30(c)(1) through (3) set the retraining triggers.

Two limits, and the first one is a legal one people miss. 1910.30(a)(2) requires that each employee be trained by a qualified person. A VR module is not a qualified person. It delivers and documents the content, and it gives a trainee far more anchoring repetitions than a tower walk ever will, but a qualified person still has to conduct and verify the training. Second, harness fit is physical. The module teaches inspection and donning sequence; the fit check happens on the harness that worker will actually wear. Construction work is also a different standard: 29 CFR 1926.501 uses a 6-foot trigger and 1926.503 carries its own training requirement.

Licensing and price

This module is not sold on its own. It ships with every Humulo headset as part of the whole library, and every trainee gets their own seat at no extra charge. Most VR training vendors will not give you a number without a sales call. Humulo’s are published, and they are the same numbers quoted to a two-person shop and to a Fortune 100 plant.

No multi-year contract, and year-two renewal is optional. Full detail sits on the VR training pricing page, and the per-employee math against classroom and e-learning delivery is worked out in safety training cost per employee.

Frequently asked questions

Does VR fall protection training meet OSHA 1910.30?

It can deliver and document the required content, but not on its own. 29 CFR 1910.30(a)(2) requires that each employee be trained by a qualified person, and a software module is not a qualified person. 1910.30(a)(1) requires the training happen before the employee is exposed to a fall hazard, and 1910.30(a)(3) sets the content: recognizing fall hazards, procedures to minimize them, the installation, inspection, operation, maintenance and disassembly of the systems in use, and correct hook-up, anchoring and tie-off. Use VR for the repetitions and the record; keep a qualified person in the loop.

When do fixed ladders need a ladder safety system or fall arrest?

Under 29 CFR 1910.28(b)(9), for fixed ladders extending more than 24 feet above a lower level: those installed before November 19, 2018 may use a personal fall arrest system, ladder safety system, cage or well; those installed on or after that date must have a personal fall arrest system or ladder safety system, with a cage or well no longer sufficient on its own. On and after November 18, 2036, all fixed ladders must have a personal fall arrest system or a ladder safety system.

What triggers fall protection, 4 feet or 6 feet?

Both, depending on which standard applies. General industry is 4 feet under 29 CFR 1910.28(b)(1)(i). Construction is 6 feet under 29 CFR 1926.501. Employers doing both kinds of work are held to both triggers.

How long does the module take?

30 minutes or more per run, and it is repeatable. The repetition is the point: a trainee can make the anchoring mistake a dozen times in VR, which is a dozen more times than they will be allowed to make it on a real crane.

What does it cost?

Pricing is per headset, not per trainee. Every trainee gets their own seat with the full Humulo library at no extra cost. Headsets are $2,349 in year one and $750 per headset for service after that. A one-headset 30-day pilot is $3,499 and is fully refundable.

Related

The requirement side is covered in OSHA fall protection training requirements, with every standard indexed on OSHA training requirements. Closely related modules: slips, trips and falls, VR confined space training, hand safety. The whole catalog is on the VR training module catalog, and the program-level overview is enterprise VR safety training.

Original course outline

• 12 Month Expiration Subscription purchase per unique user

AVERAGE EXPERIENCE LENGTH

30+ Minutes

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Identify major hazards
• Describe types of hazards
• Protect him/herself from these hazards
• Recognize employer requirements to protect workers from these hazards

ENABLING OBJECTIVES

• Recall and Inspect required safety equipment

• Identify climbing height that requires anchoring

• Practice climbing and anchoring procedures

• Practice working aloft and re-attaching tools to harness

• Practice work on elevated platform
• Practice climbing down from elevated structures

STUDENT MATERIALS

• PICO Neo Virtual Reality Headset
• Humulo’s VR Fall Protection software

OVERVIEW

Quiz

Explore Hierarchy of Fall Safety: 5 levels of Fall safety

Training Scenario: Trainees begin by inspecting and donning a harness, as well as attaching the required welding tool to themselves. Trainees then begin climbing the crane ladder, and we required to use the anchor points to attach themselves as they climb. Once they reach the first crack, they must repair it with the welding tool, re-attach the tool, and then continue their climb. They will then climb to the middle platform (answer a question about what anchor points you should and shouldn’t use), anchor themselves, and then repair a crack on the middle platform. Once complete trainees must climb to the top platform to reset the breaker box. Trainees then climb back down the crane, making sure to use their anchor points along the way.