Injuries and fatalities that happen to people as a direct result of working in high places are entirely too common. Most of these incidents occur because of lack of the proper equipment and the knowledge of how to use it. A fall protection system incorporating fall arrest anchors for workers at height needs to be effective and compliant with industry safety standards and contemporary regulations.

Workers at risk need to be trained in proper usage of the equipment and the importance of correct fitting. Safety harnesses should be inspected daily by the user and a detailed inspection conducted every few months by a trained professional. There are four categories of fall safety equipment: prevention, restraint, arrest and rescue.

Rescue equipment enables a rescuer to attach a casualty who is hanging by a fall arrest lanyard to reach the casualty, release his attachment and then raise or lower him to a position of safety. Fall arrest lanyards therefore need to be designed with this in mind. Harnesses and lanyards may be made of PVCU flexible webbing. Some harnesses have high-visibility vests incorporated with them.

On commercial buildings, it is the responsibility of the employer to provide adequate safety equipment for workers who perform tasks on top of buildings. Fall Arrest Anchors or roof anchors provide a secure attachment point where workers can fix their safety harnesses using ropes and lanyards. Workers need to be able to move easily around the roof to perform their tasks without worrying about falling off.

A karabiner, or carabiner, is a metal loop with either a sprung or screwed gate that permits quick and reversible connection. They can be made from steel or aluminum. Carabiners are widely used in rope-intensive activities such as climbing, sailing or in the construction industry. Those used in industry tend to be sturdier and heavier than the equipment used in outdoor sports.

Window washing equipment, or building maintenance units, are a completely different ball game. Such equipment can include roof cars, gondolas, telescopic machines, rail tracks, gantries, monorails and accessories. Roof cars allow cleaning, maintenance and replacement activities on the facades of tall buildings to be performed safely and easily. They can be configured for different building heights and reaches and equipped with different sized gondolas.

Self-hoisting gondolas, easily recognized from their numerous appearances in comedy sketches and thriller/action films, are routinely used for window cleaning. Gondolas are usually used in tandem with a monorail or a gantry. A monorail comprises an aluminum profile in conjunction with manually or electrically propelled trolleys. The rail may be installed directly under the eaves of the building or on the roof next to the facade via mounting brackets. It can be positioned vertically or horizontally and may be equipped with one- or two-person self-hoisting cradles.

Mobile fall protection systems may be used in situations where permanent fall protection cannot be used. Such a system can be attached to any point that can tolerate a force of ten kilo-newtons for three minutes or longer.

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Category: Business
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