OSHA Safety Harness Requirement

Safety harnesses are part of the Occupational Safety and Health

Administration’s (OSHA) fall protection program. The construction
industry alone sees between 150 to 200 fatalities and more than 100,000
injuries per year due to falls at construction sites. OSHA has recognized
this problem and has created standards that will better protect workers
from falling hazards.

Function

The full-body harness, the most commonly used personal fall protection device, is
designed to arrest the fall of a person. They are rigged to prevent a worker from free
falling a distance further than 6 feet and hitting the ground or lower platform. They are
designed to be tied off or anchored to a fixed structure that is above the worker’s body
and capable of supporting 5,000 lbs of dead weight. Do not tie-off to electrical conduit
or similar smaller piping.

Features

Safety harnesses consist of anchorage (D-ring), connectors, and a body harness. The
body harness consists of straps that are worn snugly around the worker’s body,
including leg straps. The D-ring on a sliding-back D-ring harness should be centered
on the back, between the shoulder blades. This allows for the person to stay in the
upright position after a fall. The body harness is designed to absorb the force of a fall
through the shoulders, buttocks, legs and torso.

Harnesses are designed to be used with safety lanyards. Many companies and job
sites require an increased element of safety by requiring the harness to have a dual
lanyard incorporated, commonly referred to as 100% tie-off. Ensure that you calculate
the length of the lanyard in any fall distance calculations.
OSHA Fall Protection Requirements

A personal fall arrest system/safety harness is required by OSHA whenever the

employee is 6 feet above ground and is not protected by a guardrail or safety net,
during the assembly or removal of scaffolding with incomplete handrails systems and
more than 10 feet above the ground, and when using any aerial equipment that raises
the employee higher than 6 feet.

The use of a personal safety harness is also required when working around floor
openings and on any roof without handrails when the worker is less than 6 feet from
the edge. Companies can make OSHA's requirement more strict; check with the safety
department of your company for any more stringent policies prior to engaging in
overhead work.

Calculate Falling Distance

Calculating the fall distance to ensure that the proper length lanyard is used is very
important to the employee’s safety. To calculate fall distance, you must know the
length of your lanyard and its shock absorber’s maximum length. You also need to
know the height of the work surface.

The manufacturer may state that the lanyard length is 6 feet and the shock absorber
will expand an additional 3 feet. Add 6 feet (the average height of an employee), add
another 3 feet as a safety factor, giving you a total of 18 feet. This is the height at
which it would be safe to work.

Employer Duty

Employers are required to inspect the work site for potential surfaces that employees
are required to work on that creates a potential fall hazard. If there is a potential fall
hazard, the employer must select a fall arrest system to protect the worker. This
includes systems that include the safety harness. It is the employer's responsibility to
provide the fall protection and the proper training for its use for the employee.

Employee Duty

It is the employee/user’s responsibility to wear a harness properly when required. If an

employee is not familiar with the proper donning and use of a personal safety harness,
it is his responsibility to make that fact known to his supervisor so proper training can
be completed. It is the user’s responsibility to inspect the harness prior to each use
and to calculate fall distances for the current task. If the harness is shock-tested or it
has been used in a fall, OSHA requires that the harness be inspected by a competent
person.