Personal Fall Arrest Systems
A personal fall arrest system is one option of protection that OSHA requires for workers on
construction sites who are exposed to vertical drops of 6 feet or more.
| Click on any of the components of the personal fall
arrest system illustrated below for descriptions and provisions required by OSHA. |
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Using Fall Arrest Systems Safely
This worker is protected by a properly constructed fall arrest system. |
- Ensure that personal fall arrest systems will, when stopping a fall:
- Limit maximum arresting force to 1,800 pounds.
- Be rigged such that an employee can neither free fall
more than 6 feet nor contact
any lower level.
- Bring an employee to a complete stop and limit maximum deceleration distance to 3½ feet.
- Have sufficient strength to withstand twice the potential impact energy of a worker free falling a distance of 6
feet, or the free fall distance permitted by the system, whichever is less
- Remove systems and components from service immediately if they have been subjected to fall impact, until
inspected by a competent person and deemed undamaged and suitable for use.
- Promptly rescue employees in the event of a fall, or assure that they are able to rescue themselves.
- Inspect systems before each use for wear, damage, and other deterioration, and remove defective components from
service.
- Do not attach fall arrest systems to guardrail systems or hoists.
- Rig fall arrest systems to allow movement of the worker only as far as the edge of the walking/working surface,
when used at hoist areas.
Additional Information:
- 29
CFR 1926 Subpart M, Fall protection. OSHA Standard.
- 1926.502,
Fall protection systems criteria and practices
- What's
the Fall Distance? OSHA, (1998, July), Video, 22 minutes. Links to a video that introduces the viewer to fall distance
calculations for personal fall arrest systems.
-
Interpretations and Clarifications - Subpart M -- Fall Protection (29 CFR 1926.500-503). OSHA, (1995, February).
- Worker Deaths by Falls: A Summary of
Surveillance Findings and Investigative Case Reports. US Department of Health and Human
Services (DHHS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
Publication 2000-116, (2000, September).
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