In any industry that requires personnel working at height it is vital that they have the appropriate safety system in place. This may be as simple as having the correct guardrail fitted to the climbing apparatus or may be the wearing of fall protection equipment or having a fall arrest system in place to eliminate the risk of falling or the consequences of a fall.
Fall protection systems can be either wire based or rail based depending on the project being undertaken. They can be permanent fixtures which are used on a regular basis such as for routine maintenance in a large warehouse or temporary fixtures used for one off projects for example in the construction industry.
Fall arrest systems are used when fall protection is not feasible in that circumstance due to physical restraints such as restricted access. These systems protect the user by slowing the rate of descent in a fall preventing injury such as whiplash. This is achieved by the system absorbing the kinetic energy generated in a fall in a controlled manner. The equipment comes in two parts, one of which is the harness which can be reused and a shock absorbing lanyard which can be replaced if deployed.