5,000-Pound Anchor Point or Safety factor of at least two...
I'm wondering what the best way is to determine suitable anchor points for fall arrest systems. Are there any fall protection experts out there who can explain 29 CFR 1926.502(d)(15):
"Anchorages used for attachment of personal fall arrest equipment shall be . . . capable of supporting at least 5,000 pounds (22.2 kN) per employee attached, or shall be designed, installed, and used as follows: as part of a complete personal fall arrest system which maintains a safety factor of at least two"
I've looked at a few different articles that go into this subject, but haven't found a clear cut explanation as to what the "Safety factor" is, or how to calculate it. How do you guys determine suitable tie off anchor points? If there are none available would you weld one in? If so, how would you prove your welds meet the OSHA standard? This subject always seems to be a hot topic at any company I've worked for.
Comments (4)
We use an horizontal system that has stantions every 60 feet total length makes no diff as long as you have a stantion every 60 feet and you can have 2 employees attaches in the 60 foot span I would advise against welding anything unless it is designed by a Engineer and signed and stamped we use a already engineered system for horizontal lifeline protection on our bridge beams . With regard to anchorage points there’s a lot of new equipment out there. I believe most safety factors are x5 , we use retractables or yo-yo s as they are referred to more than lanyards due to fall distance and sag ratios in the Harness as well as the life lines . We have a internal rule unless your more than 20 feet in the air you should use a yo yo instead most of ours are 11 ft. They stop the fall before it starts. They have a product out that was invented by a rock climber that you can drill a hole in whatever in our case is usually concrete and this thing serves as an anchor point. Hope this helps a little it’s prob about as clear as muddy water , like most OSHA rules
To answer the first question of best suitable anchor points for a fall arrest system, it truly depends on application and job. If you want to go into deeper specifics of how to calculate the safety factor we would have to dive into our fall clearance math. We have a great knowledge base available for anyone to use about various topics including the clearance math here -
https://www.colsafety.com/pdf/6_FT_vs_12_FT_Free_Fall_CSS.pdf
and fall clearance 101 to include SRLs, yo-yos, twin legs, and leading edge devices here -
https://www.colsafety.com/knowledge_base/Fall_Clearances_101_CSS.html
As far as welding an anchor point to something would be a big no no!
To be very honest there is ALWAYS a way to find a way to tie off to an engineered anchor point. Take a look at the 3M fall protection pdf below for just one of the many ways they have to offer for a fall arrest system.
https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/823070O/3mtm-fall-protection.pdf
If you need more information on types of anchors you can find our selection here.
https://www.colsafety.com/fall-protection/anchorage?pageStart=0&pageSize=64&sort=Default&qs=0&cat=13037
Hope this helps.