Is it Time to Replace your Safety Harness?
Harnesses are a major part of both business and recreational life. Whether you work in a dangerous environment at-height where you need a harness, or you like to live on the edge and need it for recreational climbing, they can come in handy. Since harnesses are required to ensure safety in extreme situations, it is necessary to make sure that your harness meets safety standards and is right for your specific needs.
MTN Shop offers a wide variety of quality safety harnesses sure meet any need, ranging from riggers to rope access professionals.
What type of harness should you buy?
There are three main types of harnesses: chest harness, a full body harness, and a seated harness.
1. Chest Harness
Chest harnesses can be combined with a seat harness to become a fall arrest harness that offers additional coverage and protection. Chest harnesses should not be used on their own as part of a fall arrest system. This type of harness is a perfect addition to anyone working in forestry or live event production who require a harness that won’t interfere with their work.
2. Full Body Harness
The full body harness is suitable for all activities that require a harness. It holds the entire body and is designed to catch all the weight and disperse it equally, resulting in a major decrease in pressure and impact on the body. It is the safety harness recommended for extreme heights where a fall could result in catastrophic consequences. The full body harness is also perfect for jobs and activities that require full movement at dangerous heights.
3M™ DBI-SALA® EXOFIT NEX™ VEST-STYLE POSITIONING HARNESS
3. Seated Harness
The seated harness, as well as the shoulder harness, are more suitable for work that is stationary. The seated harness allows one to sit comfortably and safely at whatever height and minimizes movement allowing for precision in an activity. It can be combined with a shoulder harness using a clip for maximum safety as well. Seat harnesses are perfect for anyone working in forestry.
PETZL AVAO SIT FAST SEAT HARNESS
It is also important to note that finding the correct size is of great importance to the functionality of the harness. If the size is not correct, the functioning of the safety harnesses will not work as intended and can result in devastating injury.
When should you replace a harness?
You should replace the harness when one of three things happen.
- The harness is old and weathered.
- The hardware of the harness is compromised.
- The safety harness has taken an extreme fall while in use.
One way to tell if the harness is too old or weathered too greatly is if it has crust growing on it or the fabric and the stitching is starting to wear out. If any of these things happen to your fall protection harness, you should replace it immediately.
Some ways to tell if the harness’s hardware is too thrashed is if any metal components are broken and do not work as intended. Also, if the harness’s hardware has sharp abrasions or is chipped, it is time to replace it. You can usually figure this out by inspecting the harness’s hardware in a routine safety harness inspection. If the vest has received a major fall while in use you also have to replace it. OSHA and ANSI state that in the case of a fall the vest must be immediately removed from service.
Safety Harness Inspection Checklist
To further help our customers, we at MTN have included a safety harness inspection checklist on our website that can help you identify if the harness is safe for us. The safety checklist is comprised of safety harness hardware, webbing, stitching, and labels checklist with descriptions of what to look for when replacing the harness in those categories. This makes it simple and easy to have a safer harness.
Where can you purchase harnesses and accessories?
MTN Shop can service all your harness needs. At MTN Shop we have the most popular harnesses from the most trusted brands on the market. We offer safety harnesses from brands such as 3M DBI-SALA, 3M Protecta, Kong, Petzl, PMI, and Rock Exotica.
If you don’t know exactly what harness you are looking for, we have impromptu filters which will guide you to the right safety harness for your application, making sure you get exactly what you need while keeping you safe and productive.
For all of your fall protection needs, including safety harnesses, visit shopmtn.com
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