Each time before using a safety harness, it is essential that you carry out a pre-use inspection to check for any signs of damage. In this blog, we will go through five types of damage you should look out for when carrying out your pre-use checks. If you spot any of the harness issues, you should take the safety harness use out of use immediately and find a suitable replacement.
1. Webbing Damage
If you spot any fraying, cuts, abrasions or burns to the harness webbing, you should immediately replace the harness. Cuts and frays compromise the structural integrity of a harness, drastically reducing its strength and ability to absorb fall forces. This can lead to catastrophic equipment failure, severe injury and even death – even just a 1mm nick can rapidly escalate under the extreme stress of a fall, causing significant strength loss!
2. Stitching Issues
Similarly, if you notice that your safety harness has stitching issues, you should not use it and replace it immediately. The stitching of a safety harness is the most critical component for maintaining structural integrity and load-bearing capacity during a fall, and even just a single broken thread can significantly reduce the harness’s tensile strength. If the stitching fails, the harness can suddenly tear apart, leading to a complete and potentially fatal equipment failure.
3. Hardware Problems
While carrying out your pre-use checks, be sure to check all of the hardware on the safety harness for distortion, bends, weaknesses and general faults. Any defect in the hardware, whether it’s the D-ring, buckle or snap hook, will compromise the overall strength of the harness system and can lead to fail under the stress of a fall, causing the user to impact the ground. Plus, faulty hardware can lead to improper fitting and uncomfortable pressure points which can also impede the user’s ability to work safely and efficiently, thus increasing accident risk.
4. Unreadable Information
You should also never use a safety harness if it has unreadable labels and information because that means you will be unable to verify the harness’s inspection records, expiration date, certifications, manufacturer details and a range of other information that is essential to check during your initial inspections. Without this information, the harness could be damaged, expired, non-compliant or compromised, putting the user at significant risk of a fall or equipment failure.
5. If It Has Been Involved in an Accident
Any safety harness that has been involved in a fall or accident should not be used because its structural integrity will be compromised, even if you cannot see any visible damage. The immense force generated during a fall can cause internal damage to the webbing, stitching and metal hardware of a harness, significantly reducing the harness’s ability to withstand the forces of another fall, putting the user at extreme risk.
If you have inspected your safety harness’s webbing, stitching, hardware and labels for signs of damage and you are sure that is has not been involved in an accident, your safety harness should be safe to use. If you spot any damage, however minor, do not use the safety harness and find a placement immediately.
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