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Fall Protection and its categories

Fall protection

Fall protection is the use of controls designed to protect personnel from falling or in the event do fall, to stop them without causing severe injury. Typically, fall protection is implemented when working at height, but may be relevant when working near any edge, such as near a pit or hole, or performing work on a steep surface.

What are the Categories of Fall Protection?fall protection

  1. Fall Arrest
  2. Positioning
  3. Suspension
  4. Retrieval

Fall Arrest

A fall arrest system required if any risk exists that a worker may fall from an elevated position, as a general rule, the fall arrest system should used any-time a working height of six feet or more reached. Working height is the distance from the walking/working surface to a grade or lower level.

A fall arrest system will only come into service should a fall occur. A full-body harness with a shock-absorbing lanyard or a retractable lifeline is the only product recommended. A full-body harness distributes the forces throughout the body, and the shock-absorbing lanyard decreases the total fall arresting forces.

Positioning

fall arrest

Fall Arrest

This system holds the worker in place while keeping his/her hands free to work. Whenever the worker leans back, the system activated. However, the personal positioning system not specifically designed for fall arrest purposes.

Suspension

This equipment lowers and supports the worker while allowing a hands-free work environment, and widely used in window washing and painting industries. This suspension system components not designed to arrest a free fall, a backup fall arrest system should used in conjunction with the suspension system.

Retrieval

Pre-planning for retrieval in the event of a fall should taken into consideration when developing a proactive fall management program.

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