Prevent injuries and death by using a lifeline checklist to ensure the integrity of onsite personal protective equipment. Find out about the different types of lifelines used in the industry and how to maintain them. Use Lumiform’s free app for all your checklist needs.
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A lifeline checklist is a guide that helps when inspecting a harness for safety and maintenance purposes. It contains the parts or components that need a check. Since a lifeline falls under the category of fall protection equipment, maintaining and checking it before use ensures workers of their safety.
Most of the requirements come from the manufacturer itself. However, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) gives suggestions on how to keep the safety of lifelines. According to the organization, a horizontal lifeline inspection should be conducted once a year by a competent person. OSHA defines a competent person as someone who is trained and experienced in identifying hazards and knows how to correct them.
1. Everything that needs to be in your lifeline checklist
3. A digital solution for maintaining lifelines
Aside from the recommended requirements by the manufacturer, you can add more items to your lifeline checklist based on the conditions and materials the equipment is exposed to in your work area. ANSI, for their part, stated that the recommendations they gave are a minimum.
The difference between vertical and horizontal harnesses has nothing to do with how they are fastened to a person. Rather, it refers to the type of falls the equipment is designed for.
Horizontal falls are those that happen when the person is standing, running, tripping, or moving. A vertical fall, on the other hand, happens between two levels like falling from a tree to the ground.
ANSI Z359.0 Fall Protection Code defines horizontal and vertical lifelines as:
A horizontal lifeline helps workers move safely on bridges and scaffolds while a vertical lifeline keeps workers safe when they work near skylight screens, railings, or climbing heights.
Horizontal and vertical lifelines can be temporary or permanent. They come in different types, such as full-body harnesses, lanyards, and self-retracting lifelines. But no matter what type they are, they have to comply with OSHA requirements, limiting the arresting force to 1,800 lbs.
Choose harnesses that provide mobility and comfort for long work hours in a particular climate. Inspect if the full-body harness fits the body snugly without limiting the movement. Take note that if the gear is too loose, the person wearing the harness might fall out of it.. In addition to that, loose leg straps can damage the worker’s genitalia during a fall.
To ensure safety, both supervisors and workers should be trained on how to use this equipment. They should know how to make adjustments and identify possible lifeline hazards.
Since vertical and horizontal lifelines are different, maintaining them varies. More so, a horizontal lifeline inspection is different from the vertical one.
Here are some tips on how to maintain and inspect lifelines. Although these are not comprehensive, you might want to add them to your lifeline inspection checklist:
Unlike horizontal lifelines, vertical harnesses do not generally require scheduled maintenance. However, they should be cleaned and lightly oiled when necessary. Keep the detachable cable sleeve in a cool, dry, clean area. It should not be placed directly on sunlight or in areas where there are chemical vapors.
Employees need extra protection when they’re working from heights. After all, one trip, slip, or fall and, well, it’s a long way down. But they can trip, slip, or fall as much as they want if they are wearing the proper personal protective gear (PPE). It’s the responsibility of employers to provide safe lifelines to their workers. Worn out, torn, or frayed lifelines are liable to lawsuits if they cause a fall that results in an injury or death. However, with the Lumiform app, you can conduct inspections as frequently as necessary to provide a safe working environment for all your employees.
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