harness training

[ROADESPARKY]

Anybody heard of a harness certificate? Went to a job recently and needed to use a cherry picker. Not a problem got the t shirt (license) then was told I needed a harness whilst in said cherry picker. No problem I have one in the van. Then BOOM have you got your harness certificate? Errrrrr what??? Then to be told sorry mate no certificate no job!! I knew I shouldn't have been so cockey pulling out my license then the harness!!! He was going to get me one way or the other.

 

[steptoe]

that is so wrong, in order to get your IPAF you are trained in using a harness,

did he mean your harness inspection ticket?

 

[Sharpend]

Just tell him you had one but it blew away as you had no where to pin it whilst up in a cherry picker.

 

[ROADESPARKY]

Sharpend: great!! wish I had thought of that one.

It's an actual 3 hour course on how to wear, how to use and inspect a harness. It's another way of taking our hard earnt cash!!!

 

[steptoe]

BTW, IPAF recommend you NOT to wear a harness in a cherry picker, and unless that site specifically had a risk assessement for wearing one then he should have been told where to go!

 

[Steve3948]

It was an S&M club he was trying to get a job in

 

[NozSpark]

BTW, IPAF recommend you NOT to wear a harness in a cherry picker, and unless that site specifically had a risk assessement for wearing one then he should have been told where to go!

Here's IPAF's guidance note on the matter,,, they have a slightly different take on it

http://www.ipaf.org/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/en/H10505.pdf

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

Oh no, i was using a cherry picker the other day. The only licence i have was issued by DVLA & the only harness i ever owned was in my old race car, but i did have my boots on.

 

[Sharpend]

What no hard hat incase you fell, or something fell from above???

 

[steptoe]

Here's IPAF's guidance note on the matter,,, they have a slightly different take on ithttp://www.ipaf.org/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/en/H10505.pdf

ah, yes, sorry, I wasnt very clear,

FALL RESTRAINT SHOULD BE WORN

FALL ARREST SHOULD NOT BE WORN,

my mistake, :Blushing

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

What no hard hat incase you fell, or something fell from above???

No hard hat either. Am i going to get arrested

 

[steptoe]

you will burn!

 

[binky]

I'm with slipshod, though I do occassinally wear hard hat - keeps the sun of my bald head.

why the hell you need a harness in a cherry picker headbang I'm still using ladders :^O

---------- Post Auto-Merged at 07:54 ---------- Previous post was made at 07:48 ----------

ah, yes, sorry, I wasnt very clear,FALL RESTRAINT SHOULD BE WORN

FALL ARREST SHOULD NOT BE WORN,

my mistake, :Blushing

what's the difference between the two? Was told on a 'work at heights' course (yes I do do H & S courses) that you shouldn't use a harness unless taught how to properly - was going to buy some for pv work. My roofer has also told me where to shove such items as he is of the opinion that working with ropes and stuff is more hassle than it's worth ie more likely to cause accidents than solve them.

 

[Andy™]

FALL RESTRAINT SHOULD BE WORN

unless your near water, in which case any fall restraint MUST NOT be worn (& lifejacket should be worn)

 

[binky]

wtf I need to buy life jackets now :^O I'll dig out the old Mae West

 

[OnOff]

(I work at height BTW and have done so for 30 years). The reason you must wear a harness in a BOOM type MEWP (mobile elevating work platform) is in layman's terms because of possible "whip action" and applying offset, shock loads. There have been instances where say one wheel of a MEWP has gone through a drain cover, the boom drops suddenly then "whips" back up throwing the occupants out. Hard hat? Well, one case involved two guys using a boom that was outside the site they were working on. They had "poked" the boom in through the unglazed side of the building and were using the basket to fit services on the ceiling. Ground gave way outside and "whipped" both into the ceiling - both dead!

On a lighter note, one of the funniest stories I ever heard was from an IPAF instructor. He said he was showing off and it was his own fault. Basically they were delivering a MEWP to site and had to off load outside the site because of height restrictions. He decided to drive himself and the site agent into the site and thought he'd give it some to show off. He forgot that there were speed bumps..........

Harnesses in MEWPS, basically you want to keep yourself as close to / in the basket as possible without any chance of imparting an offset and SHOCK load. They're only designed for a load in the basket. If you had say a 1.8m lanyard and fell out then you could be applying the load beyond it's designed maximum reach. Many's a time someone has used the MEWP for access, then climbed out onto an adjacent structure.....then fallen off. Think whipping, toppling over etc. Now couple with that a lanyard that has a shock absorber built in that gradually "rips" and gets longer as you fall and again you can be applying a shock load further out than is meant. Don't forget you might also hit the deck before the lanyard has done its job! FALL RESTRAINT is the way to go with an adjustable lanyard set to the minimum required length. Went through this a while back with IPAF - nice people to deal with.

As to harness training. Yes, it does exist. Yes, you probably would gain from a short course. There is a proper way to wear a harness and the words "form a pouch" spring to mind as one key thing from my course. Basically a maladjusted harness around your nuts can lead to them being "degloved". I'd seen it before in an industry circular but it came up again during our 2330. The lecturer was droning on about working at height with everyone falling asleep when this came up on the PowerPoint presentation:

http://www.mmma.org.za/SafetyFlash/2008/Loose%20fitting%20harness.pdf

Toad in the hole anyone?

---------- Post Auto-Merged at 17:05 ---------- Previous post was made at 17:00 ----------

A typical harness course:

Rapid Platforms - IPAF Training - Access Platforms, Cherry Pickers, Scissor Lifts, All Terrain Machines for Hire, Sales and Service

 

[Andy™]

im sure H&S would have something to say about it, but when i use a cherry picker, i use a climbing harness (not a full body type) and a short length of rope with knots in each end, and sometimes a shunt if i need it adjustable

may not be fully compliant with H&S laws, but i trust it with my life

 

[revjames]

fall restraint - short fixed lanyard on the harness to prevent you actually getting to a place where you might fall - ie a short lanyard prevents you climbing out of the cherry picker basket.

Fall arrest - a lanyard with a kind of shock absorber in it to take up the slack as you fall gracefully, types include an inertia reel arrangement or a stitched loop that slowly rips apart as it takes your weight. The only harness cert I have is for the 6 monthly inspection from the insurance inspector.

 

[wozz]

Probably on a par with this training course.

Cable Avoidance Tool Training Courses | ASGE

 

[binky]

I have to say I rarely go near such equipment, and then only at relatively low levels. Onoff's post is an interesting insight into using such equipment on a regular basis. Haveseen picture of burst ball bag - nasty. like the 'de-gloving' phrase