T
he choice of a harness is very important: essential part of fall arrest system, it must accompany the user’s movements in order to guarantee comfort, productivity, and safe work.
To choose the most suitable harness, you will need to :
–Determine the number of attachment points needed on the harness:
The number of attachment points on a harness depends on the job to be done and the safest way you can anchor yourself.
In addition, you can consider the situation that offers you the best comfort: attaching yourself via the dorsal point allows you to clear the front, but in some cases it will be necessary to connect to the sternal point, such as when accessing at height.
Some examples:
Intervention on an elevating platform
Intervention on a flat roof
Access at height
–Determine the level of comfort wanted :
Beyond the budget, take into account the frequency and duration of use to guide your choice. Indeed, some harnesses are specially designed for regular and long-term interventions. For example, if your application requires a 2-point harness and you use your harness several times a month or even daily, we recommend the Cuba harness which will offer you comfort and great freedom of movement!
Harness 1 – 2 – 4 -5 points?
You have probably heard about 1-point harnesses, 2-point harnesses, 4-point harnesses and even 5-point harnesses…!
Whatever the type of harness, a fall arrest harness has only 2 fall arrest points :
- 1-POINT HARNESS: has a single point to connect a fall arrest system located in the back called a “dorsal point” (or dorsal ring).
2-POINT HARNESS: the anti-fall points are located in the back (dorsal point) and at chest level (called sternal point).
The sternal point can take the form of a metal ring or 2 webbing loops to be linked together to form the front fall arrest attachment point.
The other points will serve as a work assistance but should never be used to connect a fall arrest system.
It can act:
- side points located on the harness positioning belt. These are 4-POINT HARNESSES : 2 fall arrest points (1 dorsal and 1 sternal) and 2 lateral points for work support, for operations requiring support work, hands free, or
- a suspension point located at the belly level for work without support or structure for the feet. We most often talk about 5-POINT HARNESSES : 2 fall arrest points (1 dorsal and 1 sternal), 2 lateral points for work positioning and 1 ventral point to connect a descent system.
