SpiderRail provides fall protection in college demolition Words: Heidi AndersSpider recently provided SpiderRail temporary guardrails for fall protection during demolition work in a portion of Columbia University Teachers College in New York City. In preparation for a new ventilation system, the customer, Shawmut Design and Construction, planned on removing old masonry air shafts throughout the building. This process would leave gaping eight-square-foot holes in the floors. In order to protect their workers from potential falls, Shawmut turned to Spider. Spider’s New York team demonstrated its SpiderRail system on site, creating a 12-square-foot area out of the non-penetrating, temporary guardrails to surround the openings in the floors. The system prevented workers outside the area from falls and enabled the workers inside to tie off to existing beams with Spider’s vertical beam clamps and retractable lanyards. “Upon seeing the SpiderRail demonstration, we were immediately convinced this was the best way to keep our workers and everyone else on site safe,” says Omar Jackson, area safety manager with Shawmut. “We ordered enough SpiderRail to have five 12-square-foot units onsite — enough to cover the open shafts on each floor of the facility.” “SpiderRail has been quick to assemble and easy to use, improving our safety and productivity during this demolition project,” says Shaun Carvalho, Shawmut’s corporate safety director. “Plus, Spider’s national presence provides great support to our projects throughout North America. Basically, wherever Shawmut has a location, Spider does as well, making our interactions seamless.”