UKC

Hi. I'm gearing up to do some industrial working at height in the uk.
The company in working for is specifying lanyards, hard hats, chin straps, full body harness and all that, but they're also specifying no fall arresters.. Ie: no screamer or energy absorbers allowed.
Has anyone experienced this? It seems odd to me, and deeply unpleasant if there is a fall.
Before I get into an argument, can anyone see any justification for why they're doing this?

In reply to KTC:

What sort of height? Is it a roof or a structure? It seems odd to me and do have never experienced it. I nearly always climb masts so would certainly not climb without fall arrest.

Are they asking instead for fall prevention like barriers and tie lines?

In reply to KTC:

It really depends on what the work is, and what measures are in place to prevent falling from height and going splat. Fall arrest is very low down on the list of ways to mitigate the risk - it's much preferable to eliminate the ability to fall entirely - which removes the need for fall arrest lanyards.

Maybe ask for copies of their risk assessments and method statements and inform yourself, before arguing (which might still be the correct approach, if it turns out they're just incompetent idiots)?

In reply to tehmarks:


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In which case why the need for a full harness? Some orgs just specify cows tails with big knots and dynamic rope I guess it depends on the likely fall scenarios if the only fall is likely to be <FF1 screamer not likely required >FF2 a'la via ferrata or ladder climbing then screamer essential (IMO).

In reply to SteveD:



Installed inertia reel-type devices on a vertical structure? Who knows, we're just clutching at straws without knowing anything about the work being carried out. In my industry (theatre, arena concerts, etc) it's the norm for any vertical things that need climbing (truss towers or wire rope ladders) to be protected by an inertia reel - but in our case we're talking about relatively short vertical things leading to horizontal structures (on which we'd typically use fall arrest lanyards).

In reply to KTC:
Fall-arrest with no shock absorber does sound very odd, but it's impossible to say for sure that it's dodgy from the information in the OP.

One vaguely sensible possibility is that they're not actually talking about fall-arrest at all, but 'restraint'. Perhaps for working close to an unprotected edge, or from the basket of a cherry picker.

In reply to KTC:

A thought, it could be that the shock absorption is in their system and additional length could have you hitting the floor?

Whatever, it's far from a stupid question to ask them rather than us speculating.

In reply to KTC:

I have no idea about what is normal but I was very surprised at uni when they decided to erect on of those T cranes. My room was on the 13th floor so I was able to observe the chap at the end of the arm threading the wire through the pulley. He had full gear on as you describe and was basically hanging from the end by one hand clipped on by what to me looked like a very thick sling. But as a casual observer I can't comment more than that.

In reply to deepsoup and others:

The work will be mostly from cherrypickers. I think that pretty much the only way to fall out of a basket would have to result in at least a fall factor of at least 1, which would bloody hurt onto an entirely static sling.

In reply to KTC:


It all makes sense now. If you're in a position to fall out of the basket, you've seriously messed up. In a boom-type lift, you should wear a full body harness and a work restraint lanyard that prevents you falling out of the basket in the first place.

In reply to KTC:

What type of work are you doing?

In reply to KTC:

There's your answer then, it isn't actually fall-arrest. The purpose of the lanyard is (or should be) to prevent you from falling out of the basket in the first place. The requirement to use a full body harness for that purpose is nonsense, but it's ubiquitous standard nonsense accepted and expected by everybody. That's elf'n'safety for you. ;O)


There's falling out of the basket, and then there's this: youtube.com/watch?v=aUzmh50OusI&

In reply to KTC:

Fall restraint - stops you falling. Very short and can be difficult to work whilst wearing it.

Fall arrest - arrests the fall should you fall out the cherry picker. Longer and gives better movement around the "Bucket"

FR, will be attached inside the bucket, FA can be attached outside the bucket. Ours is, but we have a liner inside the bucket.
From the OP, I'd say you will not be able to Fall. That's assuming you're doing everything correctly, hence no fall restraint/arresters provided.

In reply to Richie Tyrrell:

Telling you what I'm up to would out me/my company.. and I'm not supposed to do that on social media. It's dead clever though

In reply to arch and others:

Thanks all, that makes more sense now. I've only ever used longer lanyards and fall arresters before. It sounds like actually doing the work will be a bit of a pain in the arse. I'd much rather have more movement and some FA, but I guess rules is rules.

In reply to KTC:




When I started out, we just wore a belt around our waist with a strap around the pole. Now we have full body harness, pole strap and two other permanent points of attachment. Both with fall arrest. Makes working at pole top very awkward. Not to mention the extra weight.

.........No guessing which method we'd all choose if we could.

In reply to deepsoup:

That video is hilarious. Hope the bloke is ok.

In reply to KTC:

I took delivery of a bundle of replacement lanyards today, our company lifting engineer stressed that they must be 1m only for use in MEWPs (Includes the cherry picking type do they use these for cherry's?) I suppose his way of thinking is to limit the distance you fall therefore you should be able to get back into the basket or platform.

In reply to deepsoup:


What a bellend eh?

that's why there's so much Elf and Safety. To protect the feckin' eejits!!

In reply to gethin_allen:

He kind of managed to land onto his feet then onto his hands and knees, which is something.

In reply to KTC:

International Powered Access Federation: Fall protection in mobile elevated work platforms -
http://www.ipaf.org/en/publications/technical-guidance-notes/?type=1
"Boom Type Platforms. When working from a boom type Mobile Elevating Work Platform (MEWP), it is strongly recommended that a full body harness with an adjustable lanyard be used to provide work restraint"


Hope this helps