Hazards of Using Safety Harnesses

Safety harnesses are required for numerous jobs and activities, such as roofing, construction work, and rock-climbing. In some scenarios you need to wear a safety harness and are not allowed to complete the task unless you have one on. Safety harnesses do save lives that would otherwise end in falls, but people forget to consider how dangerous a safety harness can be at times if uninformed about the precautions and proper ways to use the safety device. These devices that are supposed to save people can also cause death after a fall.

  1. Suspension Trauma

    • This unwanted effect of wearing a safety harness can be deadly. Suspension trauma occurs when a person suspended in air has been dangling in an upright position for more then five minutes. The rush of blood to the legs due to gravity produces insufficient blood return to the heart . As the blood accumulates at the bottom of the legs it deprives the heart of blood, causing the heart to malfunction and in some cases results in death, with the underlying cause called orthostatic incompetence.

    Harness Straps

    • Harness straps can put pressure on the leg veins, reducing the blood flow back to the heart. This can be dangerous because the straps need to be tightened to just the right tension for them to work properly without cutting off the blood supply.

    Lanyard Attachment

    • A back attachment of a safety harness lanyard does not allow a secure self-rescue in the event of a problem. Having the attachment in the front can make the job itself difficult due to the rope getting in the way, but this can also save a life being. Always have another person lowering the rope and checking the consciousness of the person in the harness.

    Qualification

    • Putting a harness on is not easy; one wrong tie or an incomplete tightening job can cause many problems. If you are not trained and don't have a person who has been qualified through classes to assemble a harness, make sure you read the directions carefully and do a few test runs to make sure you have successfully assembled the harness. Start at a very low point with something soft under you, and do a "test fall" with the harness on to see if it is working properly before advancing to more dangerous heights.