Page 12 - Occupational Health & Safety, September 2018

CONSTRUCTION
fall clearance calculations.
Dynamic Strength: Type A and Type T anchors must not allow
a 282-pound test weight to impact the ground when dropped with a 3-foot free fall, while Type D anchors must do the same but with a 6-foot free fall.
Residual Strength: Repeats the initial dynamic test for Type A and Type T anchors. Residual testing for Type D anchors is also a repeat of the dynamic strength test, but with a 3-foot free fall in- stead of 6 feet.
Serviceability Load Test: Serviceability load testing is not re- quired for Type A anchors; however, for Type T anchors, it is done by applying the greater of twice the working load or 2,500 pounds, applied at up to 900 pounds per minute and maintained for at least three minutes. For Type D anchors, serviceability testing is done by applying the greater of twice the working load or 450 pounds, ap- plied gradually over at least one minute and maintained for at least three minutes. Serviceability load testing ensures that an anchor’s strength will not be compromised when subjected to load forces generated by workers throughout their daily work.
Corrosion Testing: For Type A and Type D anchors, ferrous components of the anchorage connector cannot show evidence of red rust or other corrosion after two, 24-hour salt spray expo- sures. For Type T anchors, ferrous components of the anchorage connector cannot show evidence of red rust or other corrosion over more than 5 percent of their surface area after a 500-hour salt spray exposure.
Updated Labeling
Safety professionals also will notice updated labeling requirements due to the more stringent Z359.18 standard. As Z359.1-2007 sun- sets as a product standard, manufacturers are not only required to mark products to the new updated Z359.18 standard, but also they must include information not previously required. Upon product compliance, manufacturers now also must identify the anchorage connector type, restrictions on loading angles, working load (if ap- plicable), serial/lot/batch number, the maximum breaking strength (MBS), and minimum service temperature.
ANSI Z359.18-2017 is clearly a “next generation” standard and goes well beyond any existing performance standard for anchor- age connectors. Compliance is intended to be challenging to push safety performance forward to meet the greater demands of the industry at large, and even anticipate some of the fall protection challenges of the future.
Bradley Dillon is vice president of product development at Pure Safety Group, the largest independent provider of height safety prod- ucts and services, and parent company of Guardian Fall Protection, Web Devices and Checkmate.
REFERENCES
American National Standards Institute/American Society of Safety Professionals. (2017) ANSI/ASSP Z359.18-2017 Safety Requirements for Anchorage Connec- tors for Active Fall Protection Systems
+ Immediate exposure data for analysis
+ Faster corrective actions and verification + Lower cost of silica exposure monitoring
12
www.ohsonline.com
Untitled-1 1
5/25/18 10:55 AM
Circle 20 on card.