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A little about fall protection.
The law requires that you should protect yourself from falling if you work more than 2 meters above the ground. Fall protection equipment is given to the single user as a personal protection, and must be CE marked according to the current European standards, and used if the work can’t be done in any other safe way, for instance when using scaffolding or rail. It is distinguished in three main types:

1. Prevent persons from falling.
For the prevention of falling, the harness can be a support belt with D-rings, in which the line is attached. Is used among pylon and ladder workers or for limiting how far you can move towards a roof edge. Supprot belts can be highly dangerous, if they are used catching a falling person. The safety line can be a lanyard (a support strap), eventually adjustable, and normally with maximum length of 2 meters. Lanyards must not be used for stopping a fall for more than 0,5 meters accordning to EN358.

2. Catch or stop a falling person .
At a weight of 100 kilos and a fall of 0,5 meters a force equivalent to approximately 630 kilos is released, at 2 meters approximately 2500 kilos, and finally at 5 meters approximately 6000 kg, which is equivalent 237 kilometres an hour (Law of gravitation) By stop of fall the fall energy must be subdued to less than 6kN (600 kg) which the human body can withstand. Do NEVER use a support belt! Only approved fall harnesses which are constructed so you hang vertically after a fall. A full body harness has straps around the chest, buttocks and thighs. During work the thighened straps must always be close-set. When stopping a fall the safety line has to have the opportunity to absorb the fall energy, which occurs at the moment of the fall. Lines for stopping a fall must be included a shock absorber with a maximum length of 2 meters or a Self-Retractable-Liifeline (SRL) (fall arrest block) which is preferred as the line is hold tight during the entire job and fall arrest block stops immediately.

3. Lower and lift persons, for instance in wells or silos.
A tripod with a retrieval winch is used for lowering and lifting persons in wells, silos or manholes in combination with a full bdy harness and a fall arrester (block or lifline). Evacuation: Before starting the job it is important to work out a plan of rescue if a person should be so unlucky, because a person cannot hang in a harness more than approximately 20 – 30 minutes without the blood circulation in the legs is damaged. We can help in developing such a plan.

Anchor point.
For a line or perhaps a fall block is an anchor point is to be chosen, so it can withstand the load it is exposed to at a fall. The load is expected to be 10 kN (1000 kilos) according to EN795.    


WHICH PRODUCT SHALL I USE?

LANYARDS
For work that only requires limited movement. Maximum length: 2 meters

FALL ARREST BLOCK 
1,75meters – 40 meters. Wire or leash. With automatic roll-up gives more freedom of movement. For jobs, where you must move quickly around the job site. The automatic brake system immediately stops the fall.

ROPE GRABS
Ensures freedom of movement on a job site high in the air (horizontal or vertical) In case of falling, the rope grab catches the rope immediately and stops the fall.

REMEMBER INSPECTION.

1. When must fall protection equipment be inspected?
2. By whom must fall protection equipment be inspected?
3. Who is responsible for inspecting fall protection equipment?
4. Does it have consequences economically?

Four sharp answers to the four questions:

1. Fall protection equipment must be inspected at least once a year, and ALWAYS after a fall according to the manufacturer’s references.
2. The equipment must be inspected by a competent person, who is authorized by the manufacturer according to EN365:2004 or a person empowered by the manufacturer.
3. The managing director is responsible for inspection of the fall protection equipment.
4. Yes, it can have consequences economically. The Danish Working Envireonment Authority makes a lot of control visits to job sites every year to make sure that fall protection is used, where it is required. And companies are often fined heavily because their fall protection equipment is not approved.

What happens to fall protection equipment that is too old?

It is well known hat ultra violet radiation is dangerous  But that ultra violet radiation damages the material in for instance fall harnesses, is only known to a few. In fact the harness loses approximately half its strength because of ultra violet radiation. And when you at a weight of 100 kilos and a fall of 2 meters tricker a force equivalent to approximately 2500 kilos, one can imagine what load is put on a fall harness. A fall harness must withstand 1500 kilos.

Fall arrest blocks (EN360) with automatic roll-up are not influenced by ultra violet radiation in the same way. When a user must use a fall block, he must test if it locks properly with a couple of pulls. But a fall arrest block must also be inspected once a year minimum by someone competent who is educated by the manufacturer, because the breaking mechanisms must be checked. That is not at all possible for the user to check by him self. Their can also be wire damage, which must be replaced.

We are authorized to inspect fall protection equipment in EN341, EN353, EN354, EN355, EN358, EN361, EN795 and EN813 from more than 22 manufacturers for instance: Miller, Antec, Söll, Troll, Komet, Meckel, Swelock, ITK, Protecta, Sala, North, FallProtec, Snikki, Spanset, Linjedon, Polyprodukter, Arcon, Tactel, Cresto, Assecuro, Seilmarker-Mathiesen, Moxham and Petzl Furthermore we can make inspection of and repairs on NORTH fall arrest blocks and MILLER Fall arrest blocks on our authorized MILLER Service Point workshop.