Fall protection wear for workers
Numerous trades require anchoring workers to surfaces on elevated project sites. The primary piece of safety gear for these workers is a safety harness. Harnesses consist of interconnected webbed polyester strapping, with spring-loaded or double-snap buckling at impact points on the body. Most have five impact points for the shoulders, chest, and torso, with a tie-off D-ring in the back that connects the harness to an anchor. Some have leg-strap impact points for the hips, for added fall protection. The line that tethers workers is the lanyard, and the clips that tether lines to harnesses and anchors are safety carabiners.
Fall protection lanyards for workers
Lanyards come in webbed polyester and rip-cord nylon, and are either rigid or elastic for shock absorption during falls. They are rated for up to 450 pounds of holding weight and 5,000 pounds of falling force. Sophisticated lanyards include self-retracting steel-cable lifelines with quick-activating speed brakes to arrest falls, with built-in retrieval handles to return workers to their original positions.
Lanyards and grabbers for tools
One danger on elevated sites is the disposition of tools. Workers need both hands as they maneuver in working position, else they risk dropping tools on crews below. Tool lanyards, tool tails, and grabbers let workers transport tools and retrieve them safely and securely. Elastic and rigid lanyards with safety carabiners are for heavy tools. Tool tails, which normally consist of rigid polyester straps, are for tools in the 2 to 10-pound range. Grabbers, which are short belt hooks, are for lighter accessories like work gloves.
Leading manufacturers of fall protection gear
Workers need to trust the safety supplies they use. Manufacturers of fall protection equipment have an impeccable reputation in the safety-gear industry:
- 3M Capital Safety Group USA
- DBI/Sala®
- Ergodyne
- Honeywell Miller®
- MSA
Safety carabiners and other protective gear
Securing lanyards requires dependable, unfailing connections. D-ring carabiners consist of durable, high-tensile aluminum or steel, zinc-plated to resist corrosion. They lock to O-rings with either self-closing, non-backout clips or captive-eye locks with screw-gate closures. Many are designed for use with gloves on.
Other fall protection equipment includes polyester and polypropylene lifelines that attach to rope grabs and brakes for continuous fall protection from one working position to another. Sliding-beam anchors are also available to tether workers to I-beams and let them adjust the anchor as they walk along the beam.
