New Course: Competent Person Fall Protection Training

Falls are the number one cause of death in construction and almost every one of them is preventable.

That’s the reason this course exists. HeatSpring’s new Competent Person Fall Protection Training, taught by instructor Jenny Conrardy, is now live, and it walks learners through fall protection the way it actually plays out on a job site: from spotting a hazard to building a full program that manages it across an organization. 

Why Take This Course

Many people treat fall protection like a checklist. This course treats it as a skill – the skill of a competent person who can walk a site, name every fall exposure before work begins, and know exactly which system the job calls for and why.

The course opens with a basic distinction that is surprisingly easy to get wrong: when does the law actually require fall protection? It depends which rulebook applies. Construction work falls under OSHA 1926 Subpart M, with a 6-foot trigger height. General industry (think things like warehouse mezzanines and loading docks) falls under 1910, where the trigger drops to 4 feet. The systems are the same, but the threshold isn’t. A worker who only knows the 6-foot rule can walk past a hazard on a general industry site without ever clocking it.

What You Will Learn

The course takes learners from foundational hazard recognition all the way through building a managed fall protection program:

• When Fall Protection Is Required – the two OSHA trigger heights, the hazards that activate them, and a first look at accepted systems
• Fall Hazards & Recognition – training the eye to spot edges, holes and skylights, scaffold and steel exposures, ladder hazards, and aerial/scissor lift risks
• The Hierarchy of Controls – the course’s five-level model (Elimination, Passive, Travel Restraint, Fall Arrest, Administrative), ranked by reliability
• Passive & Preferred Systems – guardrails, nets, covers, and the administrative fallbacks that come into play when passive protection isn’t feasible
• Personal Fall Arrest I & II – the ABCD framework (Anchorage, Body support, Connector, Descent/Rescue), harness fit and inspection, and fall clearance calculated as a stack of distances
• Ladders, Scaffolds & Aerial Lifts – the equipment and trigger heights specific to each
• Rescue & Suspension Trauma – OSHA’s rescue mandate, the physiology behind suspension trauma, and the difference between OSHA’s legal floor and ANSI’s voluntary blueprint
• Building a Fall Protection Program – using ANSI Z359.2 to move from protecting one worker to managing an entire organization, complete with a Model Fall Protection Plan and Job-Specific Fall Protection Plan & Checklist to reference or adapt

Expertise From the Field

The final module goes beyond the standards where we hear from people doing this work every day:

• Josh Hooper, EHS Specialist at Arch Electric, brings a prevention-first mindset shaped by 20 years as a Navy shipboard firefighter, now applied to crews working in solar.
• Jacob Krigbaum, owner of Proven Solutions Corporation, brings a cross-industry view shaped by years of safety consulting work across construction, manufacturing, agriculture, maritime, and more. 

Together, they round out the course with an inside look at how fall protection gets applied in the field, and where training and enforcement most often fall short.

Meet the Instructor

Jenny Conrardy is a Journeyman Electrician and NABCEP PVIP-certified professional who has worked in the solar industry since 2019. She instructs with the Midwest Renewable Energy Association in Wisconsin, trained with Solar Energy International in Paonia, CO, and is an active member of Solar for Women and WRISE, with a strong focus on equity in the trades.

A Part of HeatSpring CORE

This course is included in HeatSpring CORE, our 144-hour construction training program built to prepare employees and apprentices for entry-level roles across trades like electrical, HVACR, and heavy equipment operations. CORE leads with safety, and fall protection is a key part of that foundation.

Get Started

Enroll your team in Competent Person Fall Protection Training today!