The Harness is a PPE for Work at Height, essential to ensure the safety and comfort of professionals working in risky activities. There are several options of this equipment, for specific functions. Do you know what to analyze when choosing the ideal harness for the tasks performed in your company? In this post, we will indicate important aspects that need to be checked when deciding on a harness.
The use of Equipment for Work at Height is essential, and follows the orientation informed by NR 35, which deals specifically with norms for Work at Height. Therefore, whenever the professional is performing an activity that needs fall arrest, rope access, suspension, working in confined spaces, or climbing, the harness is necessary.
The main Harnesses for Work at Height are:
One-Point Harness: recommended for use with Y Lanyard, Rope Lanyard, or Retractable Fall Arrester.
Confined Space Harness with shoulder straps: recommended for use with the trapeze for access to the confined space.
Belt with lateral connection point: for use with the Positioning Lanyard, which will keep the worker positioned and with hands free to perform their activities.
Harness for rope access, rescue and industrial mountaineering: recommended for tasks where the access is made by ropes that will support the worker.
Hot-work Safety Harness: recommended for activities using welding or with high temperature (heat and fire).
What to observe in a Safety Harness
We have separated 5 important items that need to be checked when you are going to choose the ideal Safety Harness for the activities performed in your company.
1) Type of work to be performed
The first item to be evaluated when deciding to buy a Safety Harness is the type of activity that will be performed with the use of this equipment. Will the professional need to be suspended, will he have movement restrictions, or simply needs to be well positioned? These are essential questions to be answered before making a choice. For each task, there is a Safety Belt with a connection point in a different location.
2) Maximum weight supported by the Safety Harness
When the equipment is carefully tested before it is put on the market, it is evaluated how much weight it can support. It is important to know this information and to know which employees will use the PPE to understand what weight it can support. To ensure the worker’s physical integrity, it is essential that this weight limit is respected, avoiding or minimizing the risk of possible accidents.
3) Manufacturing Material of the Safety Harness
An important item to ensure the resistance and durability of the PPE is the material used in its manufacture. It is essential that it is produced with quality materials, such as polyester fiber, which is resistant and provides comfort to the worker, in addition to metallic parts in galvanized or stainless steel. This combination of materials provides more safety to the professional who performs Activities at Height. There are special cases such as, for example, activities with welding, environments with high temperatures and flame indications and in this case, it is also necessary to look for the right type of material for the activity.
4) Validity of the CA
The Safety Belts are warranted by a valid Certificate of Approval, responsible for indicating if the PPE for Work at Height is still in usable condition or if it needs to be reevaluated or replaced. It must be within the validity period to provide the necessary safety. The CA’s are valid according to the INMETRO certification performed on the equipment, which is equivalent to about 3 years.
5) Comfort for the worker
For the professional to be able to perform his Work at Eights in a satisfactory manner, he needs to be correctly equipped, with quality materials and that offer comfort for his day to day activities. This ensures that he can focus his attention on performing his activities without worrying about the positioning of the harness or parts of the equipment coming into contact with his skin or leaving something to be desired in terms of protection.
The importance of the correct Safety Harness
The right choice of the Safety Belt guarantees the worker the necessary safety and comfort he needs to perform his tasks. This PPE is essential for the professional to be protected, so it is important to worry about the items presented in this post: type of work to be performed, maximum weight supported by the belt, manufacturing material, CA validity and comfort.
This material was created to help you make an assertive purchase or a conscious referral, and for this reason we ask, do you think the information was valid? Did you miss any details? Share your opinion with us in the comments below and let’s continue this conversation.
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