Fall Protection Forum

During the early stages of fall protection education, I was under the impression that the track was the anchorage point. However, I was very wrong. After doing research and gaining more exposure to the world (and terminology) of fall protection, I have learned that there is a difference between the…

The earliest recorded fall protection tests occurred in Sweden and the United Kingdom around the time of WWII (mid to late 1940s). These tests were performed for aviation purposes in order to determine the different ways that the human body was affected by negative acceleration (or deceleration) forces. Scientists wanted…

Maximum Arresting Force is one of those epic fall protection terms. I say it’s epic because it plays an important role in the safety of anyone who uses a fall protection system or device. Those words also appear on the label of all Rigid Lifelines fall protection systems (and if…

After reading last week’s blog, you’re probably in suspense about how to protect employees who are exposed to confined workspaces.  OSHA states that if you have a ladder for accessing the confined space, you need a mechanical means of worker extraction with a gear that has a 5 to 1…

Confined spaces can pose a variety of hazards for people working in General Industry and the Construction Industry. For the purposes of this blog, we will be examining the different elements of confined spaces and how to offer protection for workers in those areas. Under OSHA 1926.501(b) criteria for construction…

Load testing has its place in an industrial facility. Load tests are important and necessary in the realms of material handling cranes. However, when it comes to fall protection, you don’t actually need to perform a drop test on the system (OSHA and ANSI Z359 have said so). As long…

Conducting an elevated worksite hazard assessment allows you to rule out passive fall protection options for your workers. Once you have determined that you need to use an active fall protection system, it’s important to consider the following things in order to avoid swing falls. Your active fall protection system…

Whether you are the owner of a construction company, the foreman at a jobsite, or the safety manager on a factory floor, you all share a common concern about employee safety while performing tasks in the workplace. Worker safety is especially important when anyone is performing tasks at elevation. If…

As with all feats of engineering, there are always a variety of different things that need to be considered during the design process. Our engineers use a variety of calculations to ensure that the desired system is best suited to the weather patterns of the installation location. One of the…

As the number of workplace falls increase for industrial and construction facilities, more and more employers are beginning to install fall protection systems. It’s wonderful that employers are taking the time to consider the safety of their employees, but it is important for everyone to consider all elements of the…

Working at height has a special set of challenges associated with it. To complicate a dangerous situation further, when workers need to perform tasks at height during winter weather, there are even more opportunities for danger. If workers are tying off to a cable system such as a flexible horizontal…

Gravity is an acceleration force that draws two masses together. Because this gravitational acceleration is such an influential force, it is only logical that there are certain circumstances that either increase or decrease the amount of acceleration or “G-forces” imposed upon a human. Many physicists have devoted (and sometimes risked)…