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Every facility manager and safety team needs to consider the risks that falls present to their employees and overall organization. For example, your warehouse team may step precariously close to an open, raised, and unblocked dock door. HVAC inspectors may not have guardrails nearby when they're stepping around the roof to assess the outdoor equipment. Construction workers may be on slippery ground, in areas full of trip hazards, and areas with blind spots as they finish exterior work. All these tasks present unique fall hazards, and you must provide them with the equipment and training to stay safe. For even more dangerous scenarios, such as working along exterior walls, in elevator shafts, and sustained periods of elevated work, your employees need safety harnesses—but which ones?
In this guide, we'll walk through how to choose fall protection harnesses that give users optimal flexibility, comfort, freedom of movement, and protection from falls. All these characteristics matter whether you're buying safety harnesses for maintenance workers, rescue workers, or anyone else. You can zero in on the right fall protection harnesses by considering these three things: certifications, fit, and integrability.
Safety Harnesses Are An Essential Part of Fall Protection
There are three core layers of fall protection and prevention:
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Warnings: Brightly colored barriers, signage, and taped perimeters visually indicate where safe ground ends and potentially hazardous heights or dangerous footing begins. People nearby can use these cues to avoid hazards.
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Physical barriers: These are gates, barriers, walls, and other features that physically prevent people from slipping off an elevated surface. These are essential in environments where workers may be distracted from noticing visual cues and when the potential injury from falling is significant.
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Harnesses: Harnesses actively prevent falls by catching the wearer's weight and not allowing the fall to occur. Depending on the type of harness, it can halt downward movement entirely by having a short, fixed length, or it can slow a fall with shock-absorbent body harness lanyards before stopping a fall.
OSHA and CCOHS regulations, as well as local ordinances and requirements, govern which of these levels of protection are required in different environments and for the compliant completion of different tasks. The third category, OSHA fall protection systems, is a key part of fall prevention when visual cues and physical barriers aren't enough.
How to Choose the Right Safety Harness: 3 Factors
Your team may know that high-quality safety harnesses are essential. But it's challenging to find the right products on the market that guarantee your facility is complying with OSHA fall protection harness requirements and that you're doing the most possible to protect workers. Whether you are purchasing safety harnesses and body harness lanyards for the first time or if you're replenishing outdated gear, consider these three factors:
1. Certifications
In the safety industry, there are many different safety certifications that different organizations must or choose to maintain. When it comes to individual personnel training, popular options are:
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3M safety training certification
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Certified Safety Professional (CSP)
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OSHA's ten-hour or 30-hour safety courses
Depending on the course, it may include information about how and where to use safety harnesses, and what OSHA fall protection harness features are essential in different applications. It's a good idea to meet the narrowest or highest standard, as you can guarantee your safety harnesses are compliant for all applications.
Manufacturers also need to meet certifications and standards, such as OSHA standards, ASTM standards, and the requirements of the regulatory bodies. Look for safety harnesses that comply with:
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CSA Z259 standards
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ANSI Z359 standards
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ANSI A10 standards
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OSHA 1926 standards
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OSHA 1910 standards
However, be careful of body harness lanyards and products that claim to be OSHA-approved. While OSHA does provide training, certifications, and safety standards, it does not endorse or certify products.
2. Fit
To work sufficiently, a harness must be the right size and fit for the wearer. As you look for options, see if the harnesses are available in different sizes and weight capacities. However, that's just the first fit-related consideration. Additional factors to keep in mind are:
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Comfort: If your staff wears safety harnesses for prolonged periods, they need adequate padding to prevent injuries or pain. They also need to have proper construction so they don't put pressure on the wearers' joints.
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Application: Some harnesses are a backup; they're worn just in case of a slip or fall. Other harnesses are part of the work—they might suspend welders next to elevated surfaces or rescue teams as they lower into unsafe areas. These harnesses must both fit and provide support for whole-body weight without restricting blood flow.
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Freedom of motion: If the harness impedes mobility, workers may not be able to complete tasks or may be slower. This can incentivize teams to do without harnesses to meet production goals or finish work, which will increase injuries and put your organization at risk. Investing in fall protection harnesses built for flexibility and even application-specific constructions is best.
3. Ability to Integrate with Other Safety Accessories
Safety harnesses work in tangent with lifelines and safety harness lanyards. These are the cables and webbing that attach the OSHA fall protection harness (and its wearer) to fixed anchor points. Fixed lifelines halt a fall, while stretchy ones can absorb force and mitigate the risk of injury. Other types of lines may give wearers the ability to move up and down or side to side as they complete tasks.
Your harnesses must have the right hardware, such as O-ings and D-rings, to integrate with these lines. They also need to have the right design so wearers can be comfortably and safely suspended from those anchor points. For example, there might be attachments at the chest, shoulders, and hips, not merely the hips.
Turn to Tractel for Safety Harnesses and Fall Protection Equipment That Fits Your Needs
Safety harnesses are a non-negotiable form of protection for many industrial, construction, and rescue work applications. At Tractel, we specialize in safe and comfortable harness options that comply with OSHA, ANSI, and CSA standards. Explore our options online or contact us to find the right solutions for your needs.