[RE-wrenches] Fall Protection Equipment

[Ray Walters]

Hi Glenn;

What's your opinion on Petzl's professional line of full body 
harnesses?  I noticed too that their cool strapped helmets are ANSI  
approved.  I never thought regular strapless construction hard hats made 
sense on a roof either. (always falling off and causing a hazard to 
workers below.....)

R.Ray Walters
CTO, Solarray, Inc
Nabcep Certified PV Installer,
Licensed Master Electrician
Solar Design Engineer
303 505-8760

On 1/17/2015 2:05 PM, Glenn Burt wrote:
> Standard OSHA personal safety harnesses are designed to keep someone 
> upright and without pressure on the diaphragm in the event of loss of 
> consciousness.
> Having done substantial rock and ice climbing with state of the art 
> climbing gear, I can tell you that it is not designed for that at all.
>
> Sincerely,
> Glenn Burt
> Sent from my 'smart' phone so please excuse grammar and typos.
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> From: William Miller <mailto:william at millersolar.com>
> Sent: ‎1/‎17/‎2015 14:20
> To: RE-wrenches <mailto:re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
> Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Fall Protection Equipment
>
> Friends:
>
> Industrial fall protection with rear attachment offers no 
> functionality in keeping a worker in place on a steep steel roof. We 
> install planks in these situations but would also like to be able to 
> cinch up a line connected to the workers waist or chest in the front 
> to provide extra stability. Rear attached harnesses do not provide that.
>
> William
>
>
>
> On Jan 17, 2015, at 11:00 AM, Ray Walters <ray at solarray.com 
> <mailto:ray at solarray.com>> wrote:
>
>> I prefer climbing gear as its much lighter weight and doesn't drag 
>> you around.  I actually think in some cases that traditional fall 
>> protection gear can be more of a tripping hazard than the safety it 
>> provides.   However, I was previously under the impression that if 
>> OSHA (or in the islands: HIOSH) came around, we had to ditch the 
>> climbing gear and get into the 3 times as heavy regular harnesses.
>> I just looked at the OSHA website though, and it doesn't seem to 
>> specify certification, just that the equipment meet the fall criteria 
>> as Dan mentioned.
>> https://www.osha.gov/Region7/fallprotection/fall_protection_info.html
>> This doesn't mention test procedures or certification of equipment.  
>> Here's more from the actual OSHA 1926 book:
>>
>> *1926.502(e)(3)*
>>
>>     Connectors shall be drop forged, pressed or formed steel, or made
>>     of equivalent materials.
>>
>> *1926.502(e)(4)*
>>
>>     Connectors shall have a corrosion-resistant finish, and all
>>     surfaces and edges shall be smooth to prevent damage to
>>     interfacing parts of this system.
>>
>> *1926.502(e)(5)*
>>
>>     Connecting assemblies shall have a minimum tensile strength of
>>     5,000 pounds (22.2 kN)
>>
>> *1926.502(e)(6)*
>>
>>     Dee-rings and snaphooks shall be proof-tested to a minimum
>>     tensile load of 3,600 pounds (16 kN) without cracking, breaking,
>>     or taking permanent deformation.
>>
>> "Equivalent materials" ?  Seems that an aluminum caribiner that meets 
>> the other criteria would be equivalent.
>>
>> Here, Petzl also makes a full line of worker safety equipment: 
>> http://www.petzl.com/en/Professional/Verticality?l=US#.VLqw4nuLXfc
>>
>> This is really interesting, and I would like to have a more 
>> definitive answer from OSHA.  It would be great if we could use 
>> lighter weight climbing gear; just compare a caribiner to the heavy 
>> steel monsters you get at Grainger's.  As long as it is strong enough:
>> Lighter weight = less fatigue= safer,  IMHO.
>> As with so many discussions on this list, it will ultimately depend 
>> on your local authorities.
>> R.Ray Walters
>> CTO, Solarray, Inc
>> Nabcep Certified PV Installer,
>> Licensed Master Electrician
>> Solar Design Engineer
>> 303 505-8760
>> On 1/16/2015 11:20 PM, Benn Kilburn wrote:
>>> James,
>>> This looks like a pretty nice lanyard w/ shock-absorber, rope-grab and rope.
>>>
>>> What type/style harness did he bring along?
>>>
>>> Re: OSHA approved...great question. Prior to looking into it further I'd suspect it falls in a "grey area".
>>>
>>> Benn Kilburn
>>> SkyFire Energy Inc.
>>> 780-906-7807
>>>
>>>
>>>> On Jan 16, 2015, at 9:29 AM, James Rudolph<jamesrudolph99 at gmail.com>  wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Aloha my Wrench Brothers!
>>>> We have a recent defector from a very large National Solar company here that
>
> [The entire original message is not included.]
>
>
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