Fall Arrest systems?

Hi, All,

Im building myself a shop/garage thats two stories. I tipped the second story walls up and got the rafters up, and soon Im going to be
siding it. I am using Qual-craft pump jack scaffolds to support me as I work, but at 20+ feet up its getting sketchy. Im looking for
safety system advice- experience with fall arrest systems - anything more advanced than hauling matterses form the dump and lyaing em
under the scaffold.

thanks in advance
 
Man, get a good full support body harness, and a shock absorbing strap and an anchor strap. I have two friends that have fallen. One is Crippled for life, and going down hill, and the other is currently on life support(recent fall). It is not worth the risk.
 
My Qual-Craft system has 2 aluminium planks. One you walk on and the other sets on what they call tool rests on the outside of the poles. The second plank is about 3' above the bottom one and serves as a safety rail and tool bench. We used the upper one for all our cutting. We had a compound miter saw securely clamped to it. they also offered a catch net which I didn't buy.-------------------Loren
 
you need a safety harness and lanyards and be tied off properly. boy if we got caught with out one on at anything over 3 metres we would be in deep chit. and the rig would be written up for safety violation . at times it sure is awkward to do a 10 minute service and check, but rules are rules.
 
Besides having the equipment you need to be sure that you have folks on site that can "retrieve" a fallen person. Another option would be that at least one person always in a position to call 911. That's really only good if your responders can be on-site in 10 minutes or less and have rescue equipment and training.
 
It's not just the fall protection, it's what you anchor it to. The anchor point should be rated to the beyond limits of the fall harness. The other part of that is you need to have a "spotter" on site the whole time. If you fall, you can't just hang there till someone comes along. There is a limited time that your circulation can be cut off with out permanent damage. Number one son has fallen twice at his job. By the time they got him up he could feel some real uncomfortable pains if you know what I mean.


OTJ
 
Great answers... thank you.

I dont use the aluminum walkboards Im too cheap- just 2x12s. Im only doing this once.

I dont relish the idea of dangling forever, no. Has anyone had experience with self retracting lifelines that lower you to the ground slowly?

thank you all again.

bill
 
(quoted from post at 22:04:16 09/27/20) Great answers... thank you.

I dont use the aluminum walkboards Im too cheap- just 2x12s. Im only doing this once.

I dont relish the idea of dangling forever, no. Has anyone had experience with self retracting lifelines that lower you to the ground slowly?

thank you all again.

bill

Retractables don't "lower you to the ground slowly". They allow you to move about with the cable going in and out as you move. When you fall they lock solid, just like the shoulder belt retractors in your vehicle.
 
If you rent a man lift you still need a harness as any large dips in the road and the bucket will bounce and spit you out.
 
here is my miller fall arrest harness. i use a retractable and a static safety line. i dont bounce so good anymore. i wear the miller also when im in my bucket truck too. and a pic of climbing spurs and belt for the phone pole crowd!
cvphoto57520.jpg


cvphoto57521.jpg
 
At my age, If I was to go it alone, I’d use a man lift similar to the link below. You can operate the movement from the basket. Full body harness is required. I won’t let any of my crews operate any type of lift without wearing a safety harness. I’ve seen multiple life long crippled operators who fell head first to the ground without fall gear.
Man lift
 
When I started in the construction industry there was no safety requirement, It was every man for him self.

Dusty
 
I'm impressed with the quality of the advice you've gotten on this issue. I don't know a lot about safety equipment related to falls, but I've heard from sources I consider reliable that if you fall far enough to damage yourself if you're not wearing a harness, you might damage yourself with one, too. The information others have provided here would seem to confirm that. Don't scrimp on safety. Falls are the most common type of workplace accident, and about a fifth of them result in more than a month of missed work.

Stan
 
The tie off is to be rated at 5000lbs per person connecting to that tie off. And you better have proof that it is rated for the load.
 
As I have aged, I like to believe I have learned! If you are the least bit afraid, the last place you want to be is in the air. Hire somebody with proper equipment and insurance to do the job.

Bill "too soon old, too late smart"
 
I too am impressed by the quality fo the advice. Amazing. Yes, will rent man lift ("MEWP"). At $400/day its cheap compared to a fall.

Im a physician and the sickest darn people I've met in ICUs are people who fell from a height (pro tip: dont knock back a 12 pack before shingling a church roof) or had somethign fall on them.

Will post pics when I get further.

thank you all

Bill
 
Even with a lift you need a harness and a lanyard. Also keep in mind that if you do take a fall and have a harness on how are you going to rescue yourself. Plan that out. Suspension trauma sets in in just a few minutes and can kill as well as the fall. It just takes longer.
 
I went to a safety conference/class once, we were told that if you were to fall that when you took up the slack in the lanyard and the built in shock absorber, you will have fallen 10'. And if you fall you shall not hit anything, and the floor is something, so you do not need to need to tie off below 11'. I don't remember the distance for sure, but that's in the ball park.
Yet the auto factories made us tie off whenever are feet were above 6'.

Once I was welding brackets up to hang light fixtures above a finish line, not that high off the floor. I was using a scissors lift. It was in tight quarters and you could not drive fast. Also the hight that I needed to work at was with working platform was not raised, which was only 3 or 4'.
Also it was vary hot in there.Because I was welding, they had given me leathers to wear. Because it was very hot, and I didn't feel that there was anyway that I could fall out of the middle of the large working platform, I was not wearing fall harness.
Late in the day the safety guy came around and jumped me about not wearing a safety harness. I had gotten to know the guy. And he was a decent guy, and I discussed the issue and why I wasn't wearing one.
He turned around and walked away. It was like he understood but could not say it was ok.
The next day we had a new safety guy, and he jumped the first thing that morning. I told him the same thing, he went straight to my boss, who then came to me. We talked about it. He also under stood, but could not say it was ok not to wear a fall harness. So I ending up really roasting for the rest that job. And there was now way I guy could have fallen doing what I was doing.

Dusty
 

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