What You Should Know About Personal Fall Arrest

A personal fall arrest system is crucial for the safety of people working at specific types of job sites in Lubbock, TX. Any personal fall arrest system you have on hand should feature the following elements:

• Anchorage/anchorage connector
• Body wear
• Connecting devices

One might refer to these three parts as the “ABCs” of personal fall arrest—it makes it easy to remember the necessary components to abide by industry regulations. Let’s take a closer look at each of these three components and what you should know about them.

Anchorage

The term “anchorage” refers to a secure point of attachment for certain types of safety equipment, including lanyards, lifelines and self-retracting lifelines.

Under regulations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), all anchors used for fall arrest should be capable of supporting at least 5,000 pounds per employee, and should be designed, installed and used under supervision of a person qualified for the task as part of a complete personal fall protection system with a safety factor of two or greater.

Body wear

Body wear is the specific protective equipment worn for personal fall arrest.

If an employee does experience a fall while on the job, the equipment they wear should be able to properly distribute the forces from the fall over the thighs, waist, chest, pelvis and shoulders to prevent severe injury. The body wear includes harnesses specifically designed for personal fall arrest purposes.

Connecting devices

The connectors are any components, such as tie-off adapters, that are designed to connect the device to the anchorage. They connect the entire fall protection system.

Fall-absorbing lanyards are one of the most common types of connectors used in fall arrest systems. These lanyards significantly cut down on the amount of energy that would be transmitted into the body during a fall, and can increase deceleration distance during the fall by reducing the fall arresting forces. The lanyard allows for up to six feet of total free-fall distance, the distance the body will fall before the system activates.

Any type of fall-absorbing lanyard must be properly connected to the dorsal D-ring, located on the back of the body harness worn by the worker.

It is absolutely crucial for the health and safety of workers at job sites like construction sites and other high-risk, high-elevation sites to wear all the proper safety equipment and follow the ABCs of personal fall arrest. OSHA clearly lays out the standards required for safety in this area, and a failure to follow the proper precautions could result in liability on the part of the contractor in any ensuing personal injury claims.

If you are interested in learning more about how to create a reliable personal fall arrest system and the types of fall safety tips you should follow at any given job site in Lubbock, TX, reach out to the experts at M.B. McKee Company, Inc. today. We have over 75 years of experience working with commercial and industrial clients in the Lubbock area, and look forward to partnering with you soon.

Categorised in: Safety Tips

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