It is common practice for a worker to wrap a lanyard around a structural steel section for protection against falling. It was discovered during laboratory testing that 5/8-inch-wide (16 mm) 3-strand nylon lanyards lost up to 90% of their original strength when arresting a fall. The test was performed according to CSA Standard Z259.1-M1976. Similar tests on 7/8-inch-wide nylon web lanyards ended with no arrest at all. In both cases the lanyards’ loss of strength was caused by cutting action of the edges of the I-beam.

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Harnesses are a critical component of personal fall protection and offer comfort and confidence when working from heights. They come in numerous general varieties that are used in various applications, including:

Rope Weights on Lifelines. Weighted lines are very important to keep lifeline slack from developing as the scaffold moves up from grade. However, in some windy conditions, rope weights could damage the building, especially windows. Physically securing the bottom of the line could be the answer in this case. In addition, proper termination of a rope can prevent unraveling of the strands.

Are anchorage points independent? The independence of each anchor point from the main work-positioning anchor support is an important principle. Where tripods or the building or structure itself are concerned, the question to address is, what kind of failure would likely produce an injury? Anchor-point design should address all predictable scenarios.

There is no need to risk prolonged suspension after a fall arrest when it is possible to use an automatic controlled-descent system. Rather than using equipment that arrests a fall but also could create a need for a difficult and costly high-level rescue, workers should use a lifeline system that automatically lowers them at a constant rate following a fall – either immediately or under rescur control, whichever is appropriate.