Three components, one system
- Anchor point: a point calculated and verified to take the arrest force. A pipe, a handrail or an element that “looks solid” is not an anchor point.
- Full body harness: only a full body harness is used for fall arrest; a waist belt does not arrest a fall, it is for work positioning.
- Connecting element: an energy-absorbing lanyard, a retractable fall arrester, or an anchor line. This element brings the force generated in the fall down to what a human body can take.
The fall clearance calculation
This is the single number that says whether the system is set up correctly. Free fall, the extension of the absorber, harness stretch, the height of the user and a safety margin are added; the result must be less than the clearance beneath their feet. Otherwise the system works and the person still strikes the ground or an obstacle below. Without this calculation, “we wore harnesses” documents nothing.
Suspension and rescue
After a fall is arrested, the person hangs in the harness. Suspension becomes dangerous for circulation quickly, so a rescue plan is part of the system. “We will call the emergency number” is not a plan. A plan says who will bring the person down, with what equipment, within what time — and it has been rehearsed.
After use
No component that has arrested a fall is used again — not the harness, not the absorber, not the connector. That they look intact does not change it; the system has absorbed energy once. The components are withdrawn and physically removed from site.
Periodic examination
This equipment sits in the highest risk category: alongside the pre-use check, periodic examination by a competent person and its record are required. A harness with no examination record is not equipment that should be on site; it is a finding that should be removed from it.