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options available to employers and gave OSHA the ability to allow workplaces to choose what worked best for workers and the risks associated with their work. Let’s take a quick look at fall protection equipment over the years:
Body Belt. ThThe body belt was inspired by a similar item that rock climbers would use to ensure their safety on their ascend. These body belts were worn around the waist and were one of the earliest versions of a personal fall arrest system in the 1920s. The body belts had their drawbacks, though, as they would only work if the employee fell a certain way. If the employee fell horizontally, then the belt would arrest the fall and save the fallen victim. If the employee fell any other way, the likelihood of the belt sliding over the employee’s shoulders and off of them was high, leading to little or no protection at all.
Safety Harnesses. In the 1940s, employers started to turn their eyes to the new safety harness. These offered better protection compared to the body belt but early versions were bulky and cumbersome. Despite early flaws, the harnesses were a vast improvement in fall protection technology and had the capability to arrest a fall no matter how the worker fell. The harness went through its own kind of evolution, with many tests of materials and design. By the 1990s the safety harness was standard fall protection equipment as employees were more comfortable wearing them and the device did not hinder their productivity.
Lanyards. Safety lanyards were introduced in the 1970s to bolster the safety and protection of body belts, but time would only find even better ways for lanyards to be used. Research in workplace hazards found that falling from heights was not the only risk associated with the work. Falling objects, such as tools or materials, could create a dangerous situation for anyone who happened to be below workers. As a way to protect workers from falling objects, manufacturers began to create tool lanyards that would allow workers to affix objects to an area nearby or to themselves. These tool lanyards can catch any tethered device and keep it from falling onto those below.2
Today’s fall protection devices, safety lanyards and harnesses, meet strict OSHA standards and are tested rigorously to ensure comfort, fit, protection and efficiency. Manufacturers now work hand-in-hand with safety associations and institutes to create premium protection for all workers.
While this is only a small peak behind the curtain, there is so much more you should know about keeping workers safe when fall hazards are present. Occupational Health & Safety provides webinars three times a year on the topic of Fall Protection and keeps our website up-to-date with the latest information on OSHA standards and updates from safety organizations. Staying diligent and refreshed on the latest information in the safety industry is just one way to ensure we are all staying safe.
Sydny Shepard is Editor of Occupational Health & Safety magazine. REFERENCE
1. https://www.grainger.com/know-how/safety/working-at-heights/fall- protection-arrest/kh-construction-fall-protection-standards
2. https://www.tractel.com/safetygate/history-of-fall-safety-fall-protection- equipment/#:~:text=The%20body%20belt%20was%20one,employees%20 working%20at%20extreme%20heights
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