Latest posts
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Selecting a Helmet for Confined Space Work: Retention, Profile and Compatibility
In a confined space, the head is exposed in ways it is not on an open work platform. The hazards are close and constant: fixed structure at head height, valve stems and flanges, a shaft above the worker down which tools and debris can fall, and — during vertical entry or work on rope —…
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Which Attachment Points to Use for Restraint
Restraint work looks simple on paper: connect to an anchor with a tether short enough that the worker cannot physically reach the fall hazard. Because a fall is designed out of the system rather than arrested, the attachment point on the body does not have to absorb a fall load — which is exactly why…
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Harness Attachment Point for a Rope Grab: Sternal, Dorsal and What Not to Clip Into
A rope grab — a guided-type fall arrester running on a vertical rope or a mobile back-up device on a safety line — only performs as tested if it is connected to the right point on the harness, by the right connector, with nothing added in between. Clip it to the wrong ring and the…
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Which Harness for Which Use? A Selection Note for Fall Arrest, Positioning, Rope Access and Confined Space
Picking a harness is not a comfort decision made in the stores cupboard — it decides what work the wearer can legally and safely do once they are on site. A harness that is correct for restraint at a roof edge may be useless for a tripod extraction from a manhole; a rope access sit…
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Choosing Connectors for Hauling and Pulleys
In a hauling system, the connector between the pulley and the anchor is one of the most heavily loaded components on the site. Mechanical advantage multiplies the force the haul team applies, redirects add vector loads on top of that, and every one of those forces passes through a single piece of hardware whose shape…
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Choosing Connectors for Anchor Rigging: Shape, Closure and Correct Loading
The connector at the anchor end of a system is the one most often chosen by whatever is left on the harness rack, and the one most exposed to being loaded in a way it was never designed for. Anchors are rarely as tidy as the pictures: a connector may end up on a wide…
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Connector Basics: Gates, Axes and Loading
A connector is the smallest component in most rope-access and confined-space systems and the one most often loaded in a way it was never designed for. Every anchor, every lanyard, every descender and back-up device is attached through one, and the difference between a connector working at its rated strength and failing well below it…
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Checking Connector Compatibility: A Field Method Before You Clip In
Most connector problems on site are not strength problems. A locking carabiner marked to EN 362 (Connectors for Fall Protection) has ample margin for the loads a rope access or confined-space system will generate — provided it is loaded along its major axis, with the gate closed and locked, against something it actually fits. Compatibility…
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Connector Shapes and Where Each Belongs
A connector’s shape is not cosmetic. It decides where the load sits inside the frame, whether an attached device stays aligned under load, how much room there is at the basket for a hitch or a second connection, and how easily the gate can be pressed against something it should never touch. Two connectors with…
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Which Type of Fall-Arrest Lanyard to Choose: A Selection Note
Choosing a fall-arrest lanyard is not a matter of preference or of what happens to be on the van. The choice is dictated by three site conditions that can be checked before anyone clips in: where the anchor sits relative to the harness attachment point, how much clear space there is below the worker, and…