The industries like lifting, construction, or anything where the employees work from a height, requires fall protection equipment. The workers get prior training to use this equipment to ensure that they are comfortable during their work. Fall protection equipment inspection is necessary for keeping the workers at the site safe. Let’s understand more of this process to ensure a safe working environment at your place.
How Is Fall Protection Equipment Inspected?
Regular inspection is necessary for the fall protection system, and if any of the components show faulty action, immediately correct the error. You can check the manufacture instructions when you begin the inspection, and the equipment manufacture date will be on the label. Go through each component, visually inspect if there are any wear and deterioration. The hardware inspection is not limited to some significant components and removes the parts with faulty action.
You check for the stitching to find whether anything is pulled, burned, or cut; look for the broken strands on the webbing surface in the fall protection equipment inspection. Hold the connecting device apart for some inches to inspect the damages that occurred due to corrosives, chemicals, heat, or other external conditions. The webbing is bent to inverted “U” to check the problem areas in the entire length. Inspect each part of the fall protection equipment thoroughly before approving them for use in the safety applications.
- Twisting: The rope lanyards are inspected by undoing the braiding by twisting the rope slightly and avoid the broken strands after checking the entire lanyard.
- Check corners: While fall protection equipment inspection, the hardware parts having cracks and sharp edges need checking. Look at the wear and breakages, usually in the corners or attachments, and the rollers should roll freely without distortion.
- check for damage: if you find any parts of the fall protection system damaged or worn out, never try to use them again. You must replace the faulty components at the right time to avoid accidents or injuries of the workers.
- Hire trained inspector: The fall protection equipment inspection is only successful if the inspector is well trained. Only an adequately experienced person can ensure that the work environment is safe for the employees.
How To Maintain Fall Protection Equipment from Damage?
Fall protection equipment inspection is to eliminate faulty actions and to ensure safe working conditions. If you require to extend the lifetime of each component in the equipment, you must maintain them in-between and while in use. These are some ways you can adapt to protect the equipment from undergoing shortened operation time and reduced efficiency,
- Store the harnesses, lanyards, and retractable devices in a cool, dry, and dark environment while not in use.
- The extreme hot and cold conditions can wear out the components, so it is better to keep the equipment away from over-exposure to weather conditions.
- At the workplace, the fall protection equipment will be interacting with dust, dirt, oil, or moisture that can damage the components. You should keep this equipment clean if you want to use them for a longer time without errors.
- You cannot risk going with your assumptions to operate this equipment. For clearing the queries regarding the fall protection system, you can check their instructions or contact the manufacturer. You need to follow the instructions to store, maintain and clean the fall protection equipment properly.
Wrapping Up thoughts
Safety at the workplace is a worthier investment, which cannot compromise at any point. The workers need the training to use the fall protection system efficiently, and your workers should be safe throughout their riskier work. Fall protection equipment inspection at proper intervals avoids the potential hazards that the employees can face while working on heights. You can find the best inspection services to check your equipment thoroughly if you do not have an expert at the workplace.