Safety Harness Information

Safety harnesses are used in a number of ways, from recreation to construction to window cleaning to structural maintenance of bridges and buildings. The safety harness is designed to enable a climber or worker to move about freely and accomplish specific tasks or skills while secured by the harness and rope to a safety line and anchor point.

  1. Significance

    • Safety harnesses are used anywhere a worker or climber is found climbing or working at unsafe heights. The safety harness can be found on a telephone technician high up on the pole, a window washer high up on commercial buildings or on road crew working on bridges. Most any job or function that involves heights will also require the use of a safety harness. Designed to keep you upright, brake (decelerate) your fall, and prevent you from hitting the ground or any obstacles below you, the safety harness is an indispensable piece of safety equipment.

    Types

    • Safety harness fit is really a matter of preference. There are sit harnesses, which are commonly used by climbers because of the range of motion they allow. Sit harnesses secure you by encompassing your legs, butt and thighs and keeping you in a "sit" position. Chest harnesses are common for novice climbers for the added comfort and support they offer as well as for work use for construction. Chest harnesses are a sit harness with a chest harness attached to them. They wrap around the chest and over the shoulders and are designed to keep you upright. Full body harnesses secure your chest, legs, hips and back and are the most stable and most commonly used by workers and beginning climbers who cannot control and keep their body in an upright position.

    Proper Fit

    • Proper fitting of your safety harness is vital to your comfort while climbing or performing your next task. Leg hoops should fit snug without pinching or being uncomfortable. Many designs are adjustable so you can find the right feel around your legs. The waistbelt should also be snug but not uncomfortably so; it should ride just above your hipbone and allow comfortable breathing. You should not be able to slide your waistbelt over your hips if you pull on it. Be sure not to go too tight or too loose. Seating harnesses should have about three inches of clearance between tie-in loops at your waist. Chest harnesses are the same, with fit that should be snug but not so much that it interferes with breathing.

    Composition

    • Most safety harnesses are made of lightweight 100 percent polyester in various specifications based on the use, the weight of the wearer and the safety requirements of the company for which you work. Companies performing work where safety harnesses are issued must meet OSHA or other safety standards that call for a specific thickness or type of belt.

    Considerations

    • Safety harnesses are essential to anyone climbing for work or recreation. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), 8,102 deaths occurred as a result of fall from elevation between 1980 and 1994. Falls from elevation accounted for 10 percent of all work-related deaths in the U.S. in that period.