Working Harness

[the kid]

Morning all,

 

We have now got a cherry picker at work and thus I need a harness to go up in it. I have been looking about for some and obvisuly there are some major price changes between makers.

 

It needs to be full body and after the rigging course I did, I know I want a front clip on and not a back one.

 

Becasue it is college I can't make them get me a £200 petzl one but nor do I particually want the ones that are being bought for estates that are back clip only, and feel and look cutty.

 

I am going to have to get 3 one for me and 2 for students ideally (so a medium and large size) we don't want to spend more than approx £100 a unit. We also should not have to worry about lanyards etc as they will be with the machine, that might change however.

[Tom]

The reason to use a Harness in a Cherry Picker is for work restraint - I.e to stop you climbing to far out or from being chucked out of the basket if it were to move violently. As such a "cutty" harness with a dorsal (rear) attachment and a short lanyard would be most suitable. (I'd have thought a front attached lanyard would get in the way wouldn't it?).

 

This only applies if it is a boom type cherry picker - a straight up and down, static type Genie does not require a harness.

 

If you want a harness for fall arrest whilst undertaking other activities then that is a different matter.

 

Oh - and your employer really should provide the appropriate PPE for you and may frown on you using your own alternative kit - but that is between you and them.

[the kid]

My thought with a front one is, if it is belt area it wont get caught. . . having said that I don't know as I have not used one yet, maybe all 3 points would be ideal.

 

It is a boom.

 

The discussion is that I could not have my own as they need to be inspected every year with the picker, insurance and all that.

[paulears]

I bought a nice harness - trouble is, it's out of date and never been worn! Unless your day to day job requires one, then I'd expect the harness and any other PPE to be provided with the other work equipment. Doubly so if the particular gadget, as in a cherry picker is hired in by the management.

[Tom]

Theoretically PPE should be just that - PERSONAL protective equipment.

 

Particularly with things like a harness you would ideally be issued with your own and take responsibility for it's day to day maintenance and storage.

It will need inspecting on a regular basis but there is no need for that to happen at the same time as the picker surely, you just need to provide your insurance company with proof that the harness has been inspected.

 

But, again, this suggests some confusion over the type of harness required and what you are going to be doing with it.

 

Have you been trained on this bit of kit? My staff were trained by a company called Kingfisher. Part of the package included a harness and hard hat each and training in their use.

 

As to hired in equipment - I've never known one come with a harness and I'd want to see a recent inspection report if it did - how do you know what has happened to that harness?

 

T

[Seano]

I am going to have to get 3 one for me and 2 for students ideally (so a medium and large size) we don't want to spend more than approx £100 a unit.

 

Lots of basic full-body harnesses are available with a sternal as well as a dorsal attachment point.

If you're looking for quality and comfort though, you might want to look at the Petzl Newton (with an Omni carabiner to close the front of the harness and provide a sternal attachment point) - they're very nice, and I'm pretty sure its the only full body fall arrest (only) harness I've ever seen with gear loops. Should be easily doable under 100 quid each. You don't really need a Navaho or similar unless you're going to be using work positioning techniques.

 

We also should not have to worry about lanyards etc as they will be with the machine, that might change however

 

It certainly should change - lanyards are also PPE, they should to be issued to individual users, not associated with (or stored with) the machine.

 

The discussion is that I could not have my own as they need to be inspected every year with the picker, insurance and all that.

Again - a harness is an item of PPE - Personal Protective Equipment. Your employer needs to get its collective head around the concept of 'personal'. If your employer wants to keep a couple to issue to students on an ad-hoc basis thats fine, but if you use a harness regularly you should have your own.

 

12 months is the maximum time between inspections under regulations, but most manufacturers recommend a shorter interval. If the harness is in regular use you'd ideally be looking at about 3 months. If your employer wants to get the harness examined annually by a specialist, perhaps you should also be examining it yourself on the other three quarters (and keeping records).

Incidentally, it should also be given a quick visual (and tactile) inspection every time you use it (it only takes a minute to do, and no need to write anything down).

 

It's really not that hard - there's lots of helpful stuff about PPE inspection on Petzl's website: clicky (Flash based and very heavy on the bandwidth - if your web connection isn't up to it that's all available on a CD)

 

Its pretty silly to associate the inspection of your PPE with the machine, btw - people who inspect machines don't usually do PPE and vice versa. If you want to get the PPE and the machine inspected around the same time that's fine, no reason to have both jobs done by the same company.

 

hth

[the kid]

I am going to have to get 3 one for me and 2 for students ideally (so a medium and large size) we don't want to spend more than approx £100 a unit.

 

Lots of basic full-body harnesses are available with a sternal as well as a dorsal attachment point.

If you're looking for quality and comfort though, you might want to look at the Petzl Newton (with an Omni carabiner to close the front of the harness and provide a sternal attachment point) - they're very nice, and I'm pretty sure its the only full body fall arrest (only) harness I've ever seen with gear loops. Should be easily doable under 100 quid each. You don't really need a Navaho or similar unless you're going to be using work positioning techniques.

 

They look good are there any cheep uk suppliers? Petzl don't seem to have any uk ones on their site.

 

We also should not have to worry about lanyards etc as they will be with the machine, that might change however

It certainly should change - lanyards are also PPE, they should to be issued to individual users, not associated with (or stored with) the machine.

 

Ahh ok That is something I have no idea on, I was under the assumption that it might be PERSONAL but not too sure.

 

The discussion is that I could not have my own as they need to be inspected every year with the picker, insurance and all that.

Again - a harness is an item of PPE - Personal Protective Equipment. Your employer needs to get its collective head around the concept of 'personal'. If your employer wants to keep a couple to issue to students on an ad-hoc basis thats fine, but if you use a harness regularly you should have your own.

 

All STAFF will be issued with their own to use and lookafter I will be responsible for the student ones and we will be going through the harness safety etc at the start of term.

 

12 months is the maximum time between inspections under regulations, but most manufacturers recommend a shorter interval. If the harness is in regular use you'd ideally be looking at about 3 months. If your employer wants to get the harness examined annually by a specialist, perhaps you should also be examining it yourself on the other three quarters (and keeping records).

Incidentally, it should also be given a quick visual (and tactile) inspection every time you use it (it only takes a minute to do, and no need to write anything down).

 

I will be doing the usual checking but as I say below I don't know how official inspections etc are going to work. Papers are still being written.

 

It's really not that hard - there's lots of helpful stuff about PPE inspection on Petzl's website: clicky (Flash based and very heavy on the bandwidth - if your web connection isn't up to it that's all available on a CD)

 

Will have a look and send over to the others.

 

Its pretty silly to associate the inspection of your PPE with the machine, btw - people who inspect machines don't usually do PPE and vice versa. If you want to get the PPE and the machine inspected around the same time that's fine, no reason to have both jobs done by the same company.

 

I honestly don't know how the inspections are going to work but currently we have our insurers round once a year ( or twice I can't remember) and they check all machinery. How it will work with annual inspections now I don't know.

 

Thanks

 

(jeeze thats quote city)

[trussmonkey]

Petzl UK suppliers

 

Lyon Equipment in Cumbria

[Seano]

They look good are there any cheep uk suppliers? Petzl don't seem to have any uk ones on their site.

 

There are lots of UK dealers, Google (other search engines are available) is your friend. :P

 

Lyon Equipment, as mentioned above, are the UK importer of Petzl, and have a list of stockists on their website. They're also one obvious contender for a company to talk to about planned inspections of your PPE.

 

My favourite of the many dealers in such kit is a cracking little shop in Buxton called Caving Supplies. Better to give them a call than try to check them out online though, because their website really isn't the greatest.

 

hth