Safety Harness

There is so much more to wearing a full body safety harness to work than simply throwing a safety harness on and hoping for the best. Every type of full body safety harness has to be worn in the same way, whether it is standard polyester non elasticised webbing, or elasticised harnesses. There are a number of points on the safety harness you need to be aware of. On the rear of the safety harness is the Dorsal Plate, this could be rubber, plastic or form part of the safety harness webbing pattern. This piece is extremely important as it prevents the “D” ring from slamming into the back of your head in fall and converting the safety harness in a noose. The “D” ring connects your safety harness to the anchorage point via intermediate attachments. Some safety harness have an adjustment for height via buckles on shoulder straps, the simplest rule for this type of safety harness is that you should not be able to touch the dorsal plate by reaching from behind your head or by reaching up from the lumber or lower back region. Modern safety harness design has taken this feature out of the system to reduce miss-use of the safety harness, this type of safety harness may be elasticised to encourage correct fitting and for the users comfort.

On the front of the safety harness should be a chest strap, some safety harnesses have a metal buckle and possibly a “D” ring on the front. This is to provide the user with a way of attaching to an anchor or safe system of work, for example ladder systems. The important thing to note with type of attachment that unless the safety harness is worn correctly; there is a risk the “D” ring and buckle can strike the user in the neck and under the chin if you are involved in a fall. Some safety harness designs have replaced this with soft loops as a front connection as this feature makes the safety harness safer for the user. The chest strap, without a front attachment is much smaller and made of softer webbing, the chest strap is there to stop the shoulder straps from parting and allowing the user to fall out the front of their safety harness. However in both cases it is important to take care when attaching your safety equipment in relation to the “D” ring. If the anchorage point is behind you then use the rear “D” ring and vice versa if the anchor point is in front of you.