[RE-wrenches] Fall Protection Equipment

Dan Fink danbob88 at gmail.com
Sun Jan 18 05:18:03 PST 2015


I like the Petzel strapped helmets too Ray, I have the Elios. My only
complaint is that when I have to wear a fleece balaclava under it the chin
strap is too short, and when I contacted Petzl they said there are no
extenders available. Solution was to buy a BIG balaclava that fits over the
helmet. Mine is not approved for some wind turbine work because the
close-able vents can still let in liquid. Not an issue with the work I do.

I have a friend who really likes the Petzl Navaho harness, I've never tried
one. The Petzl rescue device is also very ligthweight and easy to use. I
love my Petzl lightweight rope grab. I also like CAMP pulleys, lightweight
and great prices. I like Petzl double-locking carabiners. Also a fan of
Squids tool lanyards.

Rock climbing gear is great because it's lightweight and easy to adjust,
you just have to check the specs to make sure OSHA will approve. I would
also imagine that if an incident happened, having everything ANSI spec
would be a good CYA. Never been in that situation fortunately.

Best;

Dan Fink
Buckville Energy
IREC Certified Instructor™ for:
~ PV Installation Professional
~ Small Wind Installer
NABCEP / IREC / ISPQ Accredited Continuing Education Providers™
970.672.4342



On Sat, Jan 17, 2015 at 5:44 PM, Ray Walters <ray at solarray.com> wrote:

>  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 Engineer303 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 <william at millersolar.com>
> Sent: ‎1/‎17/‎2015 14:20
> To: RE-wrenches <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> 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 Engineer303 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> <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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