Do you know the three types of buckles on your harness? Or how to check the connection between these, your D-rings and webbing? Or what to look for when stress-testing the stitching across your chest, leg and shoulder straps?
We do – and it’s why we’re responsible for inspecting hundreds of harnesses each year as an accredited height safety specialist.
Whilst you don’t have to be a harness expert, it is important to appreciate that your harness is not a singular item. It’s made up of components that work together (and with your lanyard) to keep you safe – and as such, your harness is only ever as safe as its weakest link.
That’s why you need to weed out any weak links.
Do your daily safety check
By law in Australia, your safety harness must be inspected and the results documented by a competent person every six months. In between, like all height safety equipment, your harness should be checked before and after each use.
If that seems like overkill, consider what’s at stake – your own life, or that of a colleague.
And remember that harnesses can and sometimes do fail – due to wear and tear, due to modifications, due to missing parts. Although rare, even a brand new harness can fail if there are any mistakes in the manufacturing process. In fact, here’s one from the fail file:
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| Brand new but broken: We inspected this brand new harness only to find the buckle had been glued but not been securely stitched to its webbing – a potentially fatal error not picked up by the manufacturer’s quality control process |
So what’s the best way to safety check your safety harness?
Use our daily inspection checklist
Our Daily Equipment Checklist is your guide to conducting a professional safety check on all height safety equipment – including your harness – both before and after each use.
Using this daily inspection checklist – and undertaking both a visual and tactile inspection – will help you identify any evidence of wear and tear, load-related stress and physical damage or distortions that may impact the safety or effectiveness of your harness.
If you’re new to height safety operations, your daily equipment inspections should be supported by someone onsite who is suitably trained and experienced.
Book your six-monthly inspection
If you want an easy set-and-forget service when it comes to getting your six-monthly harness inspections done and documented, look no further.
For just $25 per harness, we’ll test, tag and return your harness and provide a compliance certificate (for all that pass inspection) within four days.
We’ll also add your harness inspection documentation to our online compliance database (free of charge) so that your compliance records are readily accessible and never lost.
Finally, we’ll notify you when your harness is next due for an inspection – do you never forget.