SOME EASY-TO- FOLLOW SAFETY GUIDELINES FOR YOUR FULL-BODY HARNESS

Workers typically opt for full-body harnesses that are easy to don, adjust and comfortable to wear.  If you are looking to purchase fall protection equipment for your workers, you should note that harnesses differ from each other in terms of construction and strap placement and hence, you should compare different harnesses on a number of parameters while keeping safety as your primary consideration. While, as a buyer, you may expect harnesses to meet safety benchmarks, but surprisingly and rather unfortunately, some brands fail to adhere to the basic safety standards. Fortunately LES only supply height safety equipment that is CE marked and conforms to the relevant British Standard.

Before you make a purchase decision, make sure that the product manufacturer holds an ISO 9001 certification. This certification testifies that the manufacturer runs operations while strictly adhering to the international design, development, manufacturing, installation, and service standards. Besides checking the product labelling, ask the product manufacturer to provide you with written proofs. Check with the harness manufacturer if it has deployed a Statistical Process Control program. With the quality of the components or raw materials being the determinant of the quality of the end products, you really need to make sure that the product manufacturer uses appropriate process control and quality control programs to ensure the use of superior quality raw materials. These are two key points that you do not have to consider when buying from LES- we comply with ISO 9001:2008 and audit our suppliers each and every year, we only supply genuine brands that adhere to the highest safety standards.

Enquire whether your manufacturer participates in Safety Equipment Institute (SEI) testing programs or in some other testing programs organized by acclaimed organizations. The SEI offers independent quality testing programs for all types of fall protection equipment and most reputed harness manufacturers will have SEI memberships. Ideally, the products should undergo designing and testing processes in an in-house facility and the manufacturer should have engineers who are qualified to undertake these tasks. You can get this verified by asking the manufacturer to show you the documentations pertaining to static load tests and dynamic drop tests.

Some harnesses do not feature a back strap and in the event of a fall, it may actually fail to provide adequate support to the user. You should look for harnesses that come with easy-to-adjust chest straps and the ones that have the capacity to withstand a fall without getting torn or broken. Chest straps with stronger stitching are more likely to provide better fall protection. Some manufacturers use Velcro to create chest straps while some manufacturers do not recommend the use of Velcro for this purpose. So you should compare product features carefully before you make a purchase decision.

Reliable hardware construction is an important consideration when it comes to choosing appropriate fall protection gear. Your harness hardware should be tough, but it should be appropriately sized so that it can be attached easily to the connecting devices. Additionally, the hardware should not have sharp edges and there are chances that the edges might dig into the skin of the user in the event of a fall. Avoid hardware that feature exposed springs as they can be easily removed or disabled. This is especially relevant if exposed springs are located on the friction buckles that are not spring-loaded. The buckles may loosen very easily after you make adjustments.

Since every safety harness is different from the other, you should go through the instruction manual that comes with every harness. Such instructions, which are often provided in multiple languages, include in-depth guidelines on usage, inspection, and maintenance, allowing you to use the right harness for the right application. This does not simply translate into regulatory compliance, but it helps you save lives as well.  

For further advivce and if you have any questions regarding our high quality branded range of height safety harnesses, please contact our sales team who will be happy to assist you with any queries.