Design fall protection

Or a chain inside of a piece of garden hose.

Horizontal rack or up-right? Fall protection for people or the pipes? Size of pipe? Weight of pipe? Structural availability? Operating area dimensions? Not enough detail for an accurate answer.

Fall protection for one person over a pipe rack. plan to use infrequently for repairs and installing new conduit in the near future. There is no overhead pipe to connect life line to now so I want to install a wire accross 40ft approximately 10 feet wide open area. will need to install I beams from ground level. questions: how to calculate foreces on cables ends and what size i beams to use.

weld a rod three feet-six inches high at centerline of each cross beam and weld or fasten a steel cable at each post, stretched tightly. This will be for the craftsman to attach his safety harness onto. Make sure they do this, be sure it is covered in your regular tailgate safety meetings.

This is the best unit for higher than 25 feet. You can use a rope ratchet system, like we use for lighting truss in Coliseum rock concerts; provided the system is temporary and not exposed to spark, flame, chemicals or weather for long periods of time. The "Surety Horizontal Lifeline" is your answer.

It's fast and inexpensive. You just roll up the un-used rope in the bag and attach it at the beam in the caribeaner you used for attachment. It stays neat and can be easily removed. You simply pull the rope between two or three points, through a well manufactured rope ratchet and you use it as a lifeline attachment point. It is designed to be overhead or beside the user. It will sag under stress, so be aware of intermediary points, as needed. Exact lanyard type and length are critical or the victim will hit the ground!

If it's exposed to corrosives or direct rain, you'll be looking for Stainless or galvanized 12mm (1/2 inch) wire rope, so it lasts without strand failure and direct attachment to steel beams or large pipes. Keep in mind, this is a static life line and break away lanyards are required or shock loading of the victim will be harmfull. There are variouse cable sliders you can invest in, which easily and accurately travel the wire without impeding the workers movement and which do not snag or wear the wire prematurely. *Never saddle a dead horse. (If you don't know what that means, hire a rigger).

The Miller Retractable Life line is the tool for protection while climbing a vertical or rope ladder, when a cage surround is not present, (OSHA requirement). These need to be within date of service, stamped on the casing. Never buy a used system, unless you know exactly what the history of the device is. Destroy the cable and throw them away when they are out of date, please.

Here's a great site for pictures of your equiptment:

http://www.toolsforstagecraft.com/carpenter-all.htm

If you would like a personal referral to a rigging safety supply company, possibly saving you money, please email me. I have many friends who rent and have personally installed this equiptment everywhere. Probably near your home town. mattymoto@nym.hush.com

Rig the World!

Are you talking about a walkway across the pipe rack or is it a seldom used access point or what? OSHA is very clear on fall protection, I suggest you take a look. The question seems to be to be, "Do I need handrails or do I need a hook-on cable for a safety harness?" I suggest you determine the purpose of fall the protection requirement, is there some frequently used maintenance point within the pipe rack that brings this requirement forward?

the piperack is now used to stand on but there is no overhead piping to tie off. I want to install cable system for one man to use. Infrequent use for maintenance and future conduit work.

We do various guarding systems - would you like to contact me for some details? Would be happy to review your needs and put something together for you.

For lanyard tie-off points, the fall protection lanyard fastening point has to be able to withstand 5000 lbs per person tied off. If it is a guard railing around an elevated platform or somethng like that, the guard rail has to be 42" high and be able to withstand 200 lbs. There must also be an intermediate rail. Cables are OK for guard rails but there are stipulations on the size of cable, number of supports, deflection under a 200 lb load, etc. There may need to be a mesh or toe board along the edge of the elevated surface under the guard rail. Check OSHA for other regs but these are some of the main points. You can find the regs on line.

I am a Rigger and Technical Consultant. I agree with what has been said above. If you have no direct overhead attachment points you are going to have strict guideleines to follw by OSHA regs. in order to comply.

Most importantly, you have to attempt to comply, in the mean time.

Fall devices are usually static by nature; some are dynamic, depending on the distance of the shock device to the attachment point and the distance of allowable travel for the victim. A human may not fall more than 2 feet before a device either stops the fall or begins a dynamic ratcheting of the fall. The dynamic quickly excedes 5000lbs. when a body falls further.

I regularly use fall arrestors with retractable cable reels and variouse safety harnesses, designed to pick from the center of the back with break away lanyards, of varying size. I use supliment belt attachments while working the grid.

OSHA is very insistant on the details. Additionally, multiple devices may be used to allow freedom of movement while working. Such as a reel for the climb up the rack and then a static or dynamic attachment once up the tower.

Full body harnesses are absolutely the rule. It's your companies responsibility to provide the gear, maintain it, replace it before expiration date and have an emergency rescue plan, in the event a person is dangling from the system, injured. You cannot defer the costs to your employees unless they have thier own private companies with documented certificate of workers comp. insurance.

I suggest you take an OSHA course, in order to have documentation within your organization and the facts about what will cost you, should they fine you. As the financial crisis continues, there will be much more stringent regulation enforcemnet to protect insurance losses and fund raise. OSHA is now a self supporting Government agency and they are bringing immigration with them.

There is no excuse for not tying off while in the grid, unless it is absolutely nessesary to transition from one structure to another. Such as between panel points while upside down under a coluseum roof. It only takes a second to tie off. People who will not comply should be reprimanded, as you can lose your insurance to operate or your completeion bond, if an accident occures.

Excellent reply! As an Engineer, Millwright, and Steel Fabricator I am more than aware of the dangers that heights present and the consequences that can occur if a company doesn't do all it can to protect it's employees. Please take the advice offered. Prevention is far cheaper and less painful than an accident.

just put up 2 extra i beams 1 at each end and make it tiet and solid 6 feet over head as a drag line you will be safe and osha will aprove. good luck

You've got some excellent advice in these e-mails. Just have to tell you to get double or triple action caribiners. Single action can fail as the safety rope/line can get tangled and push open the catch. Plus remember if something does happen (knock on wood) and your employee is left hanging be sure that you can get to him within 30min. After that and he'll start to get serious medical complications. Loss of circulation can lead to blood poisoning and other bad stuff.

Remember, if you wouldn't your mother-in-law-(sorry= mother) do it, don't force anyone else to.