Welcome back to all our listeners! In this episode of the Global Science of Safety Podcast, co-hosts Mark Reggers and Laurie Wells discuss full body harnesses with 3M’s David Baker. David is the 3M Personal Safety Division EMEA Fall Protection Application Engineering Leader based in the United Kingdom. Full body harnesses are used in many segments including construction, oil and gas, utilities, and heavy manufacturing and transportation. The purpose of a full body harness is to help arrest a fall from heights, distribute the impact forces around the body, and help ensure the body remains in an upright plane. Tune for to learn more about selection, fit, and other considerations for using this important piece of personal protective equipment.
This global podcast series provides another educational tool that can help increase your knowledge and is something that you can share with others in your organization and with your friends. The goal is to help provide a global perspective and foundation for those of you who are new to workplace health and safety and personal protective equipment (PPE) while also providing information for more experienced professionals who handle complex health and safety challenges.
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If you have any questions or topic suggestions, you can get in contact with this podcast by contacting your local 3M office or visit our worker health and safety website at 3M.com. If you’d like some assistance in your workplace when it comes to the appropriate selection, use, and maintenance of PPE please contact us today.
Around the world, we aim to help everyone get the job done safely today, tomorrow and in the future.
Below is the full transcript of the podcast:
Presenter:
The 3M Science of Safety Podcast is a free publication. The information presented in this podcast is general only, should not be relied upon to make specific decisions. Listening to this podcast does not certify proficiency in safety and health. You should always seek the advice of a licensed or certified professional in relation to your specific work or task. Always consult the User Instructions for any personal protective equipment you are using and follow local laws and regulations. Information presented is current as of the date of the podcast and requirements can change in the future. 3M owns all rights to the podcast and production is strictly prohibited without permission.
Laurie Wells:
Welcome back to our previous subscribers, and welcome to our new listeners. The Science of Safety Podcast is presented by the 3M Personal Safety Division. This is a podcast that is curious about the science and systems behind workplace health and safety with a focus on personal protective equipment (or PPE) used to help keep workers healthy and safe. I am Laurie Wells, one of your co-hosts, and I have the great pleasure to have Mark Reggers with me as well. We are occupational health and safety professionals who like to ask questions why, how, and please explain. Whether you are a safety professional, occupational, or industrial hygienist, someone with any level of worker health and safety responsibility in your workplace, a user of PPE or a health and safety nerd like us, this is the podcast for you.
Hello, Mark. It’s great to be here again. I’m so excited to have another episode of our podcast.
Mark Reggers:
Hey, Laurie. Me too. I’m doing really well. I just finished my Brekky or, as we call it, breakfast. Probably a bit of interpretation there for you. Um, yeah, just had some Vegemite on toast. Uh, traditional Australian breakfast. I’d probably say .
Laurie Wells:
Wait a minute, Mark. Did you just say vegemite? I know I’ve heard of it before, but I have no idea what it is. Tell me, is it some kind of personal protective equipment to keep you healthy and safe?
Mark Reggers:
Well, I’d probably think of a few non-Australians might call it a hazard to their taste buds, but, for myself it’s a bit of a beautiful thing to have. That’s for sure. Well, I probably think we should, introduce our topic and our guest for today’s episode. Today we’re going to learn more about the science behind fall protection harnesses, and our guest today is 3M’s David Baker. Welcome David.
David Baker:
Hi, Laurie. Hi, Mark. It’s a pleasure to be here with you both, try to give you a bit of a greater understanding of fall protection harnesses.
Mark Reggers:
Could you tell us a little bit more about your role at 3M and where do you reside in this wonderful world of ours?
David Baker:
Sure. I’m 3M’s, product specialist application engineering leader for fall protection in E M E A. And I’m based out of the UK headquarters in Bracknell, and I’ve spent approximately 20 years working in the fall protection industry in a pretty wide variety of roles.
Laurie Wells:
Well, that’s excellent David, thank you so much for joining us. Now, we have had two episodes last season on fall protection, and we did learn about our ABCDs and Fs, and our guests explained to us that the B stands for body harness. For those listeners who haven’t listened yet to those episodes, could you just refresh us with a quick review of what are the basics of harnesses?
David Baker:
Sure. As you, said, Laurie, the B in the, ABCDEs represents body support or what is typically referred to as the user’s harness. So, a full body harness is one of the key elements that’s required when comprising a complete personal fall arrest system.
Mark Reggers:
As part of that system, what is the main purpose of that full body harness?
David Baker:
Yeah, great question Mark. The fundamental job of a full body harness is to arrest a fall, to distribute the impact forces of that fall around the body, and also to ensure that the fall is in an upright plane. Some additional features are required for certain applications and segments. So, for example, work positioning belts, tool storage loops, confined space rescue points, front rear dorsal attachment points and heat resistance. They can all be factored into harness choice and the fit and performance of those will affect how that harness performs for the user.
Laurie Wells:
Uh, David, you mentioned a few things related to selection. Could you please explain more about the considerations when selecting a full body harness?
David Baker:
Absolutely. There are many considerations when selecting the type of full body harness. Few of those would be the type of work that is to be performed, duration of time wearing the harness, the working environment, number of attachment points, worker size, and the fit.
Laurie Wells:
Interesting that you mentioned fit, as we’ve talked a lot about fit for other types of PPE. So, could you expand a little bit more on the selection consideration, uh, fit when it applies to full body harnesses?
David Baker:
Yeah, sure. How a harness fits the user can impact the effectiveness and performance of the complete fall protection system. A wide diversity of shapes and sizes of workers in the workforce should be considered and allowed for, otherwise workers could end up being forced to wear a harness that isn’t optimum for them. This could increase the chances of an accident occurring and the potential injuries in the event of an accident.
Laurie Wells:
Now, let’s say a worker has a poorly fitting harness. I imagine there are some problems created by that. So, what are some of the potential negative effects of a poorly fitting harness?
David Baker:
Well, a poorly fitting harness has the potential to cause injury to the user. So, slack in the straps, for example, can cause trapping injuries. Loose straps can move and cause abrasion. And extra slack in the harness, well, that can also manifest itself as extra distance fallen. And an increase in fall distance can increase the load, which can cause injuries. There are some other potential things that can happen if the harness doesn’t fit well. That includes falling out of the harness in the event of an inverted fall and the potential of creating a choking hazard with cross chest straps in the event of a fall as well.
Mark Reggers:
Wow. I hadn’t thought of all those potential negative consequences. You mentioned a couple there that impact worker safety from a poorly fitted harness. I mean, are there other factors that affect fit?
David Baker:
Yeah, absolutely. Some of the other important considerations are comfort and design. So from a comfort perspective, a poor fitting harness can potentially increase the risk of irritation to the user, fatigue, and ultimately loss of concentration. In addition, a lack of features designed for extended use, they can cause again, discomfort, fatigue and an increased risk of accidents. So, features such as breathability, padding type and location, they can be very important. And health and safety managers really should also consider weight. You know, as features increase on a harness, the weight of that full body harness also often increases. So, consider looking for harnesses that use modern lightweight materials, which can support those extra features without adding additional weight to the harness.
Laurie Wells:
David, you mentioned looking for lightweight materials. What are some of the other design aspects of full body harnesses?
David Baker:
Well, full body harness design is important. For example, connection points placed for best use typically, they’re located centrally to the harness. That’s particularly true for vertical climbing applications. Some other design considerations is the connection storage points or lanyard keepers. These should be located really to help reduce the danger of the connector becoming snagged or dragging behind the user that can cause trip hazards or the incorrect deployment of energy absorbers on the lanyard. And of course, it’s also important to ensure that you are selecting and using full body harnesses that meet the regulatory requirements for wherever you are in the world.
Laurie Wells:
Absolutely. The regulatory considerations are certainly very important for all types of PPE. We’ve discussed in prior episodes that performance, selection and use regulations can differ around different parts of the globe in different jurisdictions. So, thinking beyond the regulations, what are some additional considerations that companies should think about with harnesses?
David Baker:
Yeah, great question. So, ease and speed of adjustability, that’s going to be important, to help the user achieve proper adjustment and fit.
Ease of connection, by which we mean the connecting elements. So, lanyards, SRLs, how easy is it to connect those and the ability to add more than one connector.
Locking buckles, they’re another feature to consider. You know, locking buckles, they can help maintain the fit, reduce the chance of the harness webbing slipping over time, and the need to readjust.
Availability of things like suspension trauma straps that need to be deployed in the event of a fall.
The overall weight of the harness. And location of the straps themselves and the strap junction points and their flexibility that can really be important during activities that involve large ranges of motion such as climbing.
Mark Reggers:
So David, one question that keeps running through my mind as a simple fellow from Australia, how does one select the right size for a fall protection harness? Is it if I wear a size, medium or large shirt or pants? Does that translate into a medium or large in a full body harness?
David Baker:
Yeah, thanks for asking that, Mark. Yeah. Harnesses are often incorrectly chosen based upon clothes sizes. Transferring clothing size to harnesses does not mean that correct sizing will be achieved. Manufacturers size charts should be used to establish the choice based upon the weight and height of the user. Users might be between sizes, so they may choose to go up a size if they’re going to be wearing additional clothing in cold environments for example, or they may choose to go down a size if they’re always going to be using the same clothing.
Maximum weight limitations should also be considered. So we should take into account the weight of the user plus the weight of the equipment to determine the weight limits, and those can vary by region. We should also consider minimum weights as well, because that’s often against tested performance of the harness.
And finally, it’s important to follow the manufacturer’s User Instructions to ensure that the worker is properly adjusting and inspecting their harness. And training and education are essential and often mandatory, that is going to ensure that all of the workers know how to properly adjust and inspect their harnesses.
Laurie Wells:
So we’ve spoken a bit about the factors that influence fit for full body harnesses. Do you have any tips for our listeners about donning and adjusting harnesses to help ensure a good fit? And, also with hearing protection and respiratory protection, we talked a lot about fit testing. So curious, how does one know if they have a good fit for a harness?
David Baker:
That’s a great question. You know, firstly, we always say ensure that your pockets are empty of any objects. Okay? So in the event of any fall, they risk being pressed into the wearers body by the straps. So then, we’ll adjust the straps so they’re a little bit loose, and then put the harness on, connect all the buckles first, and then we adjust the leg straps ensuring that the seat of the harness is correctly positioned, and then adjust it so that the straps are just tight enough to slide your hand, a flat hand between the strap and your leg, but not so loose that you can ball your hand into a fist. Then once we’ve adjusted the leg straps, we adjust the torso straps in the same way. And lastly, we ensure all of the straps and connection points are positioned in the correct locations.
Mark Reggers:
Some great tips there, David, but one last question before we finish up today. From a 3M point of view, how does 3M apply science to the design of harnesses?
David Baker:
Well, during the design and development of 3M harnesses, we adopt numerous strategies to assure they fit and perform the way our customers expect. So we carry out voice of customer studies to find out what are the important factors for end users when they’re using a harness. We also conduct multi-regional studies across various segments, trades, applications to understand how body shape varies across demographics, and to ensure that all that data is built into our designs. And then ,we also use multi-stage field trials to get feedback on those designs and ensure we’re heading in the right direction. So, strong channel and end user relationships help us gain strong customer input and insights, and that’s something we really place a high value on to help ensure we are delivering not only products, but also education and the support that our customers need around the globe.
Laurie Wells:
Thank you, David. It’s really been great to have you. I’ve certainly learned a lot. You’ve been a terrific guest on our podcast, and not only have I learned about the full body harnesses, but also about the importance of fit as it applies to, fall protection. So thank you so much.
David Baker:
No, thank you, Laurie. Thank you, Mark, it’s been an absolute pleasure being on the podcast. Thanks for inviting me.
Mark Reggers:
Thank you so much, David. Now you took the words right out of my mouth Laurie, as far as these concepts of fit and donning and doffing really do apply across a wide range of types of PPE. So always really interesting talking and listening to these experts from around the globe. It’s always so wonderful. So, uh, yeah, another episode in the bag. Well, thanks for listening. Everyone. You can listen, subscribe to and share this podcast through Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, and most major podcast apps and platforms. If you have any questions, topic suggestions, or you’d like some assistance in your workplace when it comes to the appropriate selection, use, and maintenance of PPE you can get in contact with this podcast by contacting your local 3M office or visiting our website mmm.com. Around the world we aim to help everyone get the job done safely today, tomorrow, and in the future. Thanks for listening and have a safe day. Stay healthy, Laurie.
Laurie Wells:
Stay safe and sound Mark.
Mark Reggers:
Thanks everyone. Bye
Laurie Wells:
Bye-bye.