HEIGHT SAFETY EQUIPMENT

Integral harness
Dorsal harness
Austral harness
Roof Pro harness
Rope grabs
Lanyards
Connectors

As we do not have specialist retailers for height safety equipment, you can buy these products directly from our factory in Christchurch.

Since 1994 Aspiring Enterprises has held a licence to manufacture S-marked height safety harnesses and lanyards to the Australian-New Zealand standard 1891.1 (1995) and the previous standard. We now have a simple range of four certified harnesses to cover most of the common height safety situations requiring a safety harness.

All our height safety harnesses and lanyards are certified to AS/NZS 1891.1. They all feature D-ring attachment points and have quick-adjusting buckles. The colour scheme for all four is red and black.

Integral harness

A removable waist pad is available if more comfort is required.

A front attachment point is desirable for any situation where different attachment anchors are used from time to time, or where it is useful to load the harness occasionally. This is especially so for situations such work on as lattice structures. A front attachment point is also highly desirable if a fall occurs and a worker is left hanging in mid-air while a rescue is being organised. Front attachment also contributes to safety by having a visible attachment point to connect to. If a snap-hook is used as a harness connector, it can be difficult to ensure that the snap-hook is properly connected to a rear attachment point.

The Integral harness is available in three sizes to ensure a good fit on most people. Weight is 1040 grams. Colour is red and black.

Certified to AS/NZS 1891.1:1995.

Dorsal harness

Adjustment is by four quick-adjusting buckles. A unique feature of this harness is the chest strap, which can be positioned using two buckles at the level required to suit users of different heights.

The basic Dorsal harness is very simple, but two options are available as extras. "Rescue loops" - webbing loops fitted to the chest strap adjustment buckles - can be fitted to the harness for rescue purposes. Also, an attachment extension can be added if required. This extends above the attachment D-ring to make it easier to connect to the harness.

The Dorsal harness is available in sizes medium and large. Weight is 1140 grams.

Certified to AS/NZS 1891.1:1995.

Austral harness

The pole strap is unique in having two adjustment buckles - one on each side. This makes it easier to centralise the pole strap around a pole, as well as minimising the amount of "tail" webbing protruding from the buckle.

For more comfort in work-positioning, a removable back-pad is available as an optional extra. Another option is webbing loops at the chest for rescue purposes.

The Austral harness is available in two sizes to ensure a good fit on most people. Weight is 1260 grams.

Certified to AS/NZS 1891.1:1995.

Roof Pro harness

The Roof Pro harness is a certified sit harness with a front attachment point at the waist, specifically designed for roof work and other work-positioning situations.

A work-positioning harness may be used in any situation when it can be assured that a fall of more than 600 mm will not occur. Some situations that are appropriate for a work-positioning harmess are:

• Work on roofs (providing they are solid);
• Fixed ladders fitted with drop lines;
• Restraint situations (fall prevention).

The Roof Pro harness is available in two sizes (medium and large). Weight is 640 grams.

Certified to AS/NZS 1891.1:1995.

Rope grabs

The PMI Progressor encloses the rope in a U-section shell. A "curved-interface" cam acts on the rope, and a push-pin through the cam allows the cam to be removed so that the rope can be inserted. There is a karabiner hole in the end of the cam. A small wire on the cam provides a light spring action, tensioning the cam on the rope. The Progressor is certified to EN 567 for ascenders.

The PMI Arrestor is essentially the same design as the Progressor, with a different shaped cam and without the spring. Because of this there is no pressure on the rope, and the Arrestor will therefore track both up and down the rope freely. The Arrestor is certified to EN 353-2 for fall-arrest devices.

The CT rope grab is an excellent device which is made entirely from stainless steel and despite having a back-up safety latch, can be fitted to the rope with one hand. The cam works on a different principle, but it also tracks freely. A lug above the cam prevents the cam opening sufficiently to remove the rope when a karabiner is present. The CT rope grab is certified to EN 353-2 for fall-arrest devices.

The I.S.C. Rocker is a simple design which operates by camming action from an offset attachment point. It also runs freely both ways on the rope, although it has a small lug which can be rotated into position to give friction on the rope should this be required. This can also be used to "park" the device at a particular level if required. The Rocker is certified to EN 353-2 for fall-arrest devices.

Of the four different devices, the Progressor is the most suited to work on roofs, because it will not slip down the rope by itself. The other three are all ideal for drop lines on ladders, because they are free-running on the rope without intervention from the user. This feature also makes any of the three ideal as a back-up device for rope access.

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Lanyards

Our standard lanyards are available in three standard lengths: 80 cm, 140 cm, and 2.0 metres, connected with a square screw-link connector to an energy absorber.

The function of the energy absorber (shock absorber) is to reduce the peak force on the system to a maximum of 6 kN. The energy absorbers that we use are made in France, and operate on the tear-webbing method, in which the webbing tears along woven edges.

A double or "twin-tail" lanyard is available in the same three lengths, and has two lanyard "tails" connected to the same energy absorber. This is illustrated with an Integral harness at right.

There has been concern recently over the use of twin-tail lanyards after a fatal accident in Queensland, Australia, in which a twin-tail lanyard apparently ripped apart where it was connected to the energy-absorber. It is believed that the worker connected the spare tail to a D-ring on his harness, and this transmitted the load between the two tails of the lanyard and thereby caused the energy absorber to be bypassed during the fall, with a consequent impact in excess of the strength of the assembly.

Because of the design of our energy-absorbers as a closed loop, they are not vulnerable to this type of failure. In testing between the tails, they deploy normally just as if they were the usual configuration. However, carrying the spare tail on the harness should be avoided, because the energy absorber may not run to its full extent if the lanyard is shorter than the extension of the energy absorber. The spare tail can be connected to the square screw link that connects it to the energy absorber.

Certified to AS/NZS 1891.1:1995.

Retracting lanyard

Our retracting lanyards are now fitted with a swivel snap-hook, which prevents the webbing from becoming twisted, with the possibility of retraction not occurring properly. We supply them with a screw-link connector for the anchor connection. A steel karabiner can be supplied instead if required.

Retracting lanyards are ideal for any fall-arrest system when overhead anchors are available. Note that retracting lanyards do not require an energy-absorber to be used with them - either integrally or separately - because if they are used correctly, no major fall can occur.

Connectors

The snap-hooks that we use are safer than many of those on the market, because the safety latch does not protrude from the body of the hook, and therefore it is difficult to disengage the latch unintentionally.

Lanyards can also be supplied with either screwlock or twistlock karabiners, which are held in place with a small bar, or if connection to larger anchors is required, they can be fitted with the Fire-fighter's Karabiner, which will fit over a 40mm tube.

For scaffold tube is the Scaffold Karabiner (illustrated left), which will fit over a 55mm tube.

We can now supply Manulinks (illustrated right), a large stainless steel device like a nut-cracker which will open over a object up to 100 mm wide. These are excellent for use on lattice-work structures such as radio transmitter towers.

As an alternative we also stock a large snap-hook (illustrated left). This is an aluminium double-locking snap-hook with an opening size of 62 mm, designed to fit over scaffold tubing, etc, and also applicable to lattice structures.

The Large Snap-hook, as with all our connectors, can be built into lanyards if required.

For information on karabiners click this link to go to the karabiner section.

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