A worker who is not using fall arrest protection is in danger of serious injury and death.
Falling from heights and in hazardous environments is a common occurrence, so it’s safe to say that most people have had occasion to come in contact with the idea of using some sort of fall protection device.
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of confusion about the specific details involved, as well as a fair amount of controversy. The purpose of this article is to look more closely at fall protection and clarify the main points.
The answer is discussed here for, a worker who is not using fall arrest protection loses his footing at the top of a six-story.
The idea behind fall protection is simple: it’s better to catch a worker before they hit the ground than to try and stop them after they land.
How that end-goal is accomplished can vary greatly depending on what sort of equipment is used and what environment the worker will be in.
However, all forms of fall protection rely on something called a “fall arrest system”, so we’ll start by looking at these systems and how they work.
1. Theory
The basic idea behind fall arrest systems is pretty simple. The system consists of three components: a harness, a lifeline, and a catch.
The harness is basically a web of straps that will hold the worker in place while they are suspended in mid-air. It’s made up of long belts with buckles or other fittings at various points along its length that are capable of engaging with the lifeline.
Syndicates are then placed around the workers body, where they can attach to pieces of their clothing or equipment before being secured by other buckles at each end.
The lifeline is a cord or wire that runs down to the ground. This allows the worker to stay connected to the ground at all times while they are suspended in mid-air. Needless to say, falling significantly increases your chances of serious injury when you’re falling from a height, so having something safe to break your fall when you inevitably slip up is very important.
A lifeline will also act as a safety mechanism in case anything should go wrong with the harness or other equipment attached to it.
This way, if the harness comes loose or gets torn somehow, there’s still something between you and disaster when you hit the ground.
2. Components
The components of a fall arrest system are basically the same for all systems. The only difference between one system and another is that each system can be adjusted to match your needs.
For example, if you’re not working on anything particularly hazardous, the harness won’t need to support very much weight. That means it can be made out of cheaper materials while still getting the job done.
This is the main reason why there’s no industry-standard design for fall arrest systems; if everyone worked in exactly or similar conditions, then you could get away with using one design for everything.
But since every workplace is different, it’s okay if different harnesses are made to suit different purposes.
There are also different ways of attaching the other components to the harness. For example, some systems use a quick-release system, while others use straps.
Some other systems use both. There are also other variations on each of these basic components that can be used to suit different needs; for example, the fittings used to connect one end of the lifeline to your equipment can be swapped out for something else.
3. Function
The idea behind using a fall arrest system is to provide a safe place for the worker to fall if they slip up while suspended in mid-air.
This way, the only thing the worker will hit when they slip up is whatever they’re connected to – and that can be easily prevented by having something solid on the ground to stop them. But what happens if there isn’t anything solid on the ground? How do you make sure that you won’t hit anything when you fall? The answer lies in what’s known as “fall distance”.
Fall Distance is basically how far down your body will travel while it’s falling. This measurement is very important, because the longer your fall distance is, the harder you will hit the ground when you eventually slip up.
The basic idea behind fall protection is to make your fall distance as short as possible.
Your fall distance (or “fall height”) depends on two things: your distance above the ground and how fast your body will be traveling through the air.
