How often should safety harness and lanyard be inspected?

Harnesses and lanyards must be inspected by the user before every use and formally inspected by a competent person every six months. Users need training for inspection and safe use.

FAQs

Discover the most frequently asked questions and detailed answers in the construction safety industry, covering essential topics such as workplace regulations, safety protocols, equipment usage, compliance standards, and best practices to ensure a secure and accident-free work environment.

What is the difference between fall prevention and fall protection?

Fall prevention systems and equipment are designed to prevent the fall of a person or objects from height. Handrails, Guard railing, or temporary edge protection systems are typical examples of everyday use of Fall Prevention.
Fall Protection Systems and equipment, on the other hand, are designed to minimize the consequences of a fall of a person or objects from height, thereby protecting the worker from severe injury or fatality. Good examples of such equipment are Safety Nets, Safety Net Fans, temporary lifelines, Permanent lifelines, Restraint systems, or Harness and Lanyard systems.
Mobile Elevated working platforms (MEWP), movable working platforms, or Scaffolds can also be classed as Fall Protection Equipment.

What are the different kinds of fall prevention?

Fall prevention systems and equipment are designed to prevent the fall of a person or objects from height. Some typical examples are: Handrailing , Guard railing, or temporary edge protection systems

What are the different kinds of fall protection?

Fall Protection Systems and equipment, on the other hand, are designed to minimize the consequence of a fall of a person or objects from height thereby protecting the worker from severe injury or fatality. Good examples of such equipment are Safety Nets, Safety Net Fans, or Harness and Lanyard systems.

What are the main types of fall protection?

Fall protection applications are initially divided into Temporary or Permanent systems in terms of duration or period of use whether during the construction or maintenance period or following the completion of the structure for periodical inspection and maintenance of the building or structure. Fall Protection systems are classified as Collective or Personal. A collective fall protection system provides safety to a number of workers exposed to the risk of falls. A good example is the temporary edge protection system. A Personal fall protection system is equipment or systems provided to every individual worker to prevent or arrest his fall. An example of this type of equipment is Harness and Lanyards.
Fall protection systems can also be classified as passive or active. Passive fall protection systems are designed to be used in case of fall and do not require to be positively connected to. Examples of such systems are safety nets or safety net fans which are passive collective systems. Active fall protection on the other hand requires the worker to positively connect his fall protection system to an anchorage point or line. A good example of active systems is lifeline or anchorage rings.

Fall Protection Equipment is designed to minimize the consequence of a fall of a person or objects from height thereby protecting the worker from severe injury or fatality. Good examples of such equipment are Safety Nets, Safety Net Fans, or Harness and Lanyard systems.

How do we select products for fall protection plan?

Consideration needs to be given to every application for the selection of Fall Protection equipment with guidance from the Work at Height Hierarchy. The best approach is to avoid the need or the necessity to work at height where possible and to investigate remote solutions or pre-installed solutions. One can consider Permanent Fall Prevention measures within the design which are collective, like parapets, permanent handrailing, cradles, BMUs, etc. Within the permanent designs, we can consider Permanent fall protection systems lifeline systems, roof-mounted Davits, anchorage points, restraint systems, or BMU. We can consider the use of safety nets, safety net fans, or airbags to minimize the height and consequence of falls as temporary collective measures. If non of the above is practical or possible, we consider the use of personal fall protection equipment (harness and lanyards/PFPE). We must follow the ABC rules for such products and pay particular attention to Anchorage measures and systems used. Body protection or the type of Harness used for the job intended and Connector type or Lanyard used to connect the Harness to the Anchorage point. If we still cannot solve our access problem, we can consider personal measures that do nothing to prevent, reduce or mitigate the work-at-height issues. These include Ladders, Step-ladders, Stilts, hop-ups, trestles, etc… and these are definitely the last resort.

How much is free fall distance for personal fall arrest systems?

In general, both EU and OSHA standards indicate that fall protection is required when working above a free fall distance of 2.0m (6 feet (1.8 m) as per OSHA). However, most regulations will require the user to have fall protection from a height that may cause injury. Consideration and priority must be given to collective and passive fall prevention systems for the selection of fall protection systems when working at height.

How often should Safety harness and lanyard must be inspected?

Detailed and formally recorded inspection must be carried out every 6 months by a competent person. The end-user however, is also obliged to inspect his/her Harness and Lanyard before each and every use to ensure there are no damages that may affect the performance of the equipment. the end-user will require training for this inspection as well as safe use of the equipment.