Falling from heights is one of the most common causes of serious work-related injuries and deaths in Australia. Having the right fall protection equipment can help in eliminating the hazards or controlling the risks associated with working at heights.
Identifying Fall Hazards
Employers are responsible for identifying all tasks and locations where injury could occur due to a fall from a height. Employers and managers need to regularly walk around the workplace and talk to workers to find out what tasks are being carried out that could result in falls. The below are some tasks that need particular attention:
- Working on any structure or piece of plant being constructed, installed, demolished, dismantled, inspected, tested, repaired, or cleaned.
- Working on a fragile surface such as cement sheet roofs, rusty metal roofs, fiberglass sheeting roofs and skylights.
- Working on a potentially unstable ground surfaces where there is potential for ground collapse.
- Using equipment to work at heights, such as ladders, elevated work platforms or scaffolding.
- Working on a sloping or slippery surface where it is difficult to maintain balance.
- Working near unprotected open edges, such as an incomplete stairwell.
- Working near a hole, shaft, or pit into which a worker could fall such as trenches, lift shafts or service pits.
Types of Fall Protection Equipment & Devices
Shock-Absorbing Lanyards: are the most commonly used safety lanyards, because they are easy to use and relatively inexpensive. Shock absorbing lanyards are used in conjunction with safety harnesses as part of a fall protection system. Shock absorbing lanyards have a built-in woven shock pack that expands during the fall to ensure that the fall arrest force is significantly reduced. Shock-absorbing lanyards are available in a wide range of lengths and with nearly any hook combination.
Self-Retracting Lifelines (SRL): Self-retracting lifelines are fall protection devices that immediately stop a fall. The lifeline, much like a seat and shoulder belt in a car, pulls out and retracts easily at slow speeds, but will engage when the worker slips or falls. This type of fall protection equipment is designed to be anchored above the worker’s head. In the event of a fall, the self-retracting lifelines’ internal braking system functions to disperse the energy of the fall over a short distance, thus limiting the force applied to a user’s body.
Full Body Harnesses: A full body safety harness is a key part of an active fall arrest system. The harness serves two purposes, first, distributing fall forces safely across a worker’s body in the event of a free fall, and second, providing freedom of movement sufficient to allow the worker to effectively perform their job. The full-body harness combines the features of a sit harness, which supports the hips and upper legs, and a chest harness, which supports the shoulders and chest.
Fall Limiters: A fall limiter is a subtype of a self-retracting lifeline. They have a much shorter working length, usually not more than 8 feet and smaller in size which allows for more worker mobility. The braking mechanism of fall limiters operates very similarly to an SRL but is designed specifically to arrest shorter fall distances.
Karabiners: Karabiners are used to connect parts of the fall protection system in a flexible but safe and secure way. These are commonly used in rope-intensive activities such as climbing, rope rescue, construction, industrial rope work, and window cleaning.
Choosing the right fall protection equipment for each job and each worker is vital. Application requirements, size, weight limit, number of attachment points, worker comfort, and freedom of worker movement while in the harness are all factors that must be considered when selecting the right safety lanyards or fall protection devices.
Southland Supply Group
Southland is your source for the best selection of safety equipment supplies across Australia, including a wide range of fall protection equipment. We have partnered with top brands like 3M, Linq, Miller, MSA, Spanset, and Safetek Get Protected to provide a wide range of fall protection gear from safety lanyards and full body harnesses to fall limiters and fall protection kits.