Is Your Fall Protection Equipment a Silent Hazard?

Each year over 100,000 injuries and deaths are attributable to work-related falls. According to the National Safety Council, falls are one of the leading causes of deaths in the workplace. In addition to permanent injuries and lost lives caused by falls, businesses lose billions of dollars each year from significant increases in insurance premiums, workers’ compensation claims, product liability costs, and other related expenses. According to Boston-based Liberty Mutual, the leading private provider of workers’ compensation insurance in the United States, on-the-job injuries cost employers nearly $1 billion per week in payments to injured employees and their medical care providers.

Has Anyone Noticed?

The manufacture and sales of fall protection products have steadily grown over the past decade, however the number of injuries and deaths associated with falls from heights has also increased.

What’s the Problem?

Several factors have contributed to these alarming and disturbing statistics:

• All fall protection equipment deteriorates with use and exposure over time, regardless of brand and/or manufacturer.
• Equipment is not inspected often enough for wear and damage.
• Proper training is not provided – often, the wrong equipment is selected for a particular situation, and equipment is not worn properly.

Those specifying or using fall protection equipment know these factors to be valid (at least at some subliminal level). Yet, it is very likely that a high percentage of equipment used on job sites throughout North America today, would fail to meet safety standards if exposed to a fall. Meaning, someone could be seriously injured or die.

How do We Know?

On any given day, a visit to any job site in the country will unveil fall protection equipment being used that is potentially dangerous because of wear, neglect, misuse or age/exposure. Over the past several months, shock-absorbing lanyards from a variety of manufacturers have been voluntarily removed from job sites for safety qualification, and 85% of the product samples FAILED standard safety tests (in accordance with ANSI Standards). These are surprising and alarming facts that the fall protection community has overlooked, while touting the many standards and regulations to which their products are tested and deemed safe.

The recent test program focused on shock-absorbing lanyards from eight manufacturers and showed a variety of performance failures (lanyard test, 220 lbs. [100kg] @ 6 ft. [1.8m] free fall):

• 100% did not pass visual inspection criteria [weld splatter, webbing cuts/abrasions, broken stitching, frayed/burned webbing, chemical damage, discoloration, deformed hardware (cracks/rough or sharp edges) and/or loose, distorted or broken grommets, etc
• 6% had webbing that actually broke
• 24% elongated over the 42 inch (1.1m) standard
• 83% had fall arrest forces over 900 lbs. (4kN) (ANSI), with 9% over 1,800 lbs. (8kN) (OSHA)
• 6% were previously deployed, but still in active service when removed from the job site
• 42% had hardware with visible defects
• 9% had snap hooks that opened during testing
• 9% had webbing that was knotted

The safety community must recognize these facts and take a proactive approach. Workers are being seriously injured in falls with equipment that initially passed industry safety standards. More troubling, worn and damaged equipment is still accessible even though it will not perform as designed in the event of a fall.

Best Intentions.

Safety directors and supervisors need to make a concerted effort to keep unsafe and potentially life-threatening equipment out of the hands of those working at heights. Workers, through proper training and attentive daily inspection, will be safer and injury free. Taking equipment out of service too early is a better alternative than explaining to a worker’s family that there has been a serious accident ... adopt a Smart Policy – when in doubt, throw it out!