- 766 views
A Fall Protection System is a solution to protect the user from falling or to save him by limiting the impact of force the user experiences during the fall.
The sudden impact in the end and an eventual injury proves that the system was without an energy absorber.
A fall from height can occur during any elevated work activity in areas of construction, painting, repairing and welding operations, roof maintenance, bricklaying, loading-unloading, etc.
The Importance of Fall Protection:
A fall can happen to anyone if proper protection planning is not done. One needs to learn to foresee and plan in advance the ways to tackle the potential fall hazards an activity would have.
The harsh truth is that, even a small hazard is dangerous, so every fall hazard has to be studied and relevant equipment should be arranged according to the hazard to minimize the risk of the fall. Understanding of fall protection ensures elimination of fall hazards. This can be done by timely recognizing fall hazards and taking collective preliminary measures to bypass its occurrence.
Methods of Fall Protection:
A planned response is the best way to approach working in hazardous situations. This can be done by effectively using the correct ABCs of Fall Protection (Anchorage, Body Support and Connector).
The methods of providing fall protection systems can be basically classified as
- Active Systems
- Passive Systems
Active Systems:
These systems need human involvement and interaction with equipment to save a user from a fall. Using anchor points, lifelines and retractable blocks need human effort to act to save a fall. These are examples of active systems.
Passive Systems:
These systems once installed at the site do not require any human intervention for functioning. Guardrails and safety nets are best examples of Passive Systems as they are intact in their places.
Planning the Fall Protection Methods:
To plan fall protection methods, we either design a fall prevention system (a system that protects the user from falling while working at height) or a fall arrest system (a system that involves the safe stopping of a person already falling).
Fall Prevention System:
- Barriers
- Guardrails
- Boundary Cables
- Walls & Fences
- Platforms, Buckets, Aerial Lifts
- Scaffolds and Planking
Fall Arrest Systems:
- Personal Fall Arrest Systems
An Adequate fall protection control plan needs a prioritized system to protect against foreseeable fall hazards. To Finalise and design fall protection plans we should follow a proper Hierarchy of Fall Protection. Below given hierarchy is in order of importance but can be used in combination too:
- Elimination of hazards –Removes the need to access a fall hazard
- Prevention of fall hazards- Provides fall restraint system or guardrail system
- Fall Arrest-Catches the falling user
- Administrative techniques –Warning signs, controlled zones
- Personal protective equipment-PPE is a designed backup safety system for an individual during an activity. So, this means if PPE is not in place, there is no escape. We need to have these ready for use.
Components of a Fall Arrest System:
A Fall Arrest System is an assembly of components used to arrest a person in a free fall (Ref ANSI Z359.0-2007). Let us understand the basics of safety language (ABCD of Fall Protection) (ABCD of Fall Protection) which makes the system together which is known as Fall Arrest System:
Anchor- Secure point to attach lifeline, lanyard, deceleration device, and/or rescue equipment
Body Support –Full body harness has Shoulder straps, retainer, waist strap, thigh straps, sub-pelvic support, adjustment buckles
Connecting Elements-Lanyards, Energy Absorbing Lanyards along with Karabiners or snap hooks
Deceleration Device-Descent/Rescue Devices to retrieve or lower a fallen worker
Education- Competency Training to the users for analyzing hazards, making fall protection plans and using equipment in the correct manner.
KARAM offers a comprehensive range of Fall Protection Equipment to suit a vast range of applications and situations. Equipped with the finest ergonomics and technically sound features, KARAM equipment are the best choice for comfortable and safe usage for work at height.
To know more about the various Fall Protection Equipment please click here
