 Mark Andrews is a lucky man. At 37, Mark has a loving wife, two great kids, a good job as a driller that provides for his family. But that's not why Mark is lucky. Mark is lucky to be alive. Mark was drilling a blast hole at Tocan Connecticut Incorporated's Mottville Plant Quarry. Standing about 10 feet from the edge of the 50-foot bench, Mark was drilling the sixth hole when a portion of the high wall directly under him collapsed. As the ground slid out from under him, Mark fell and slid four or five feet when the tether and harness he was wearing arrested his fall. The section of high wall fell to the track of the drill, but Mark was on hurt and the drill suffered no damage. Even if the drill had slid over the edge, Mark would not have been pulled over with it because he had tied the rope to a service truck parked well back from the edge. I got the call shortly after noon time that Mark had been drilling up in the Mottville Connecticut quarry for Tocan. I got the call shortly after noon that there had been a slide on the face and that Mark had been over the face, was dangling by his safety harness. That day I came in at 7 o'clock and the machine was already set up prior to the day before. I had drilled three holes and then did two more 12 feet away and then the last hole I was about 10 feet down and I was about to change the steel out to another to the next hole and I was looking up in the air and you know the clouds are going by and you think that you know something's moving but I was moving going down but right at that time is the floor let go or the face just let go and you just kind of dropped right out. I don't think you're really feeling anything at that time. I just went down quick. It wasn't even time to do anything by that time. The face just let go. It didn't even see it coming. He climbed back up and everything was all right. The machine was safe and Mark was safe and everybody was in good order. It happened so quickly because the face just dropped off but as soon as it dropped off and I was hanging I don't remember the initial fall at all pretty much. I just remember turning around grabbing the rope and climbing myself back up. So at that point in time I got in touch with Mark right away, got him on the phone and went through once again that he was all right number one and that everything else was safe and put away and with that being the case that I said you go home now and I'll come out and take a look at the face and take a look at the site that we're on. When this incident happened there was no news coverage there was no press conferences as a matter of fact Mark Svello employees didn't even know it happened until several days later. It was okay you know right in the beginning but then you get kind of shaky later you know figure out what's what really happened but you know when the adrenaline going you just think that you're you know you drop quick and you just want to get up quick and want to get the machine if it didn't go over get that off there and then you have time to think about what happened I guess. We have a company policy right from the beginning everybody's told this and when they're issued their harnesses and lanyards right off the bat that when you're anywhere near the face where a fall is possible you must be tied off. The first and foremost thing that anybody working around a high wall has to do is they've got to check out the face itself before they go out there and that doesn't mean walk out to the edge and look over that means you look at it from the bottom first then you look at it from the side where you know you can stand safely and you can look out at the work that you're going to be where you're going to be working. Check the face and all the loose debris or anything in the morning make sure his face is stable. Then you get up on top of it and then you start to look at the at the ground now you know where are the cracks if there are cracks in the soil or if there's cracks in the rock here from back break from the previous blast or from stripping or whatever it is even after that there are things that happen on the ground as we all know that we can't see from my from either looking at the face or from the top and those are the ones that will always get you and it'll happen too fast you can't run away and if you're not tied off you're going to go over with it. Before I wore the harness I would think that you'd have enough time to get out of the way you see it coming and you say oh I got time and you can you know ten seconds or four you know three seconds and you can turn and run away and it wasn't like that it just happened within you know half a second or something so you you don't have time to take off because it's already happening and can't climb up hill when it's going down so when I think wearing a safety harness probably saved my life that way. Safety from our end from a company standpoint as I say is not while it's it's great company procedure it's not for us it's for the employees. Mark has been a good employee for us for at least eight years now you know he's got a wife and kids and the fact that when I got the call I didn't have to call his wife who might then be a widow you know the fact that I could just talk to Mark after the slip was so important it's their lives that are at stake out there and they need to be able to go home at night. There's no big deal if you do the right thing. It really was no big deal the man did his job correctly no big deal but to Mark his family and his friends the fact that Mark did his job correctly that is employers trained him correctly that Mark is alive today that is a big deal. Good judgment and awareness are keys in working safely when working in an area where there is a danger of falling. This area let's refer to it as the danger zone is the area within six feet from the edge or within six feet of unstable ground on top of a high wall. Examine your workplace and assess fall hazards before and throughout your shift. Use the right equipment. Belts and lines are sufficient to prevent falls. The lines should be shorter than the distance from the crest to the tie-off point. While Belts and lines may be suitable for fall prevention they may not be the best choice as this video shows falling over the edge is not the only hazard. The edge may fall away from under you. For fall arrest a harness and shock absorbing lanyard is much safer and is highly recommended. Before each use examine the fall protection system for damage. This includes the harness, lanyard, lines and connecting snaps and D-rings. Check to ensure that there is nothing to snag or entangle the lines. Lines and lanyard should be anchored to a T-bar or to a piece of mobile equipment parked parallel to the edge with brake set and the wheels chopped. Avoid tying off to the drilling rig itself. Remember all equipment should be used according to manufacturers recommendations. Even if you are not in the danger zone are you still safe? Ask Mark. He can tell you he was wearing his fall protection.