GB2376883A

GB2376883A - Fall arrest equipment

Info

Publication number: GB2376883A
Application number: GB0112329A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Robert Thomas Kilpatrick
Original assignee: PROSPECTS
Current assignee: PROSPECTS
Priority date: 2001-05-21
Filing date: 2001-05-21
Publication date: 2002-12-31
Also published as: GB0112329D0

Abstract

Fall arrest equipment comprises a safety harness for supporting a person, and two lanyards 11,16 attached to said harness. The first lanyard 11 serves to arrest the fall of the person whereas the second lanyard 16, which is attached to the first in parallel and remains slack when the first is under tension, can easily be released at the top and attached to a rescue line. The slackness in the second is achieved by making it slightly longer than the first, or making it from a more yielding material. The first lanyard may comprise a shock absorber 13.

Description

Fall Arrest Equipment The following invention is in the field of fall arrest equipment and more specifically, the invention describes improved fall arrest equipment and method of using such equipment.

It is known to provide a person working at dangerous heights with a safety harness.

This harness will usually have a lanyard which connects the harness to a suitable anchoring point such as a secure scaffolding pole. Such a secured harness will arrest the descent of any person who falls while working at dangerous heights.

Conventionally, the person wears the harness and attaches a hook to a suitable anchoring point while working at a dangerous height. If the person were to fall, the lanyard would arrest the fall leaving the person dangling form the lanyard. It is apparent that with only one fixed lanyard attached, lowering or raising the casualty after a fall is difficult, especially if his equipment becomes twisted. There may be no obvious point to which a safety rope can be attached to the casualty's equipment such that his lanyard can be cut and the person lowered.

The major disadvantage of basic fall arrest systems is that they do not actually address the difficulties of rescuing a casualty after they have fallen. A person who has fallen could be in a very uncomfortable or even dangerous position after the fall. They may have been injured during the fall or even unconscious. Their breathing may be restricted by the harness itself.

It is therefore imperative that a casualty can be lowered to the ground or, failing that, raised to a safe position as quickly as possible in order that they can receive the necessary medical attention This can be best achieved by the provision of a second lanyard, attached to the first lanyard, such that this second lanyard can be easily and quickly attached to a rescue line while the casualty remains secured by the first lanyard. An advantage of this system is that it is very simple and cheap to implement, requiring only a small modification to existing fall arrest equipment by the provision of a second lanyard.

In a first aspect according to the invention there is provided fall arrest equipment comprising a safety harness for supporting a person and at least first and second lanyards attached to said harness, said first lanyard being for arresting the fall of said person and said second lanyard for attaching to a rescue line in order to lift or lower the person after a fall, said first and second lanyards being such that when said first lanyard is under tension, there is some slack in said second lanyard.

The second lanyard can either be slightly longer than that of the first lanyard, attached to a different point, or can be made of a different, more elastic, material.

The second lanyard may be attached via an end of the first lanyard, or may be independently attached to the other parts of the apparatus Preferably the first lanyard is fitted to the harness via a shock absorber.

Preferably the first lanyard has a hook attached to one end for attaching to anchoring means.

Preferably the second lanyard has a releasable coupling device such as a karabiner at one end for attaching to the first lanyard or, in event of a fall, to a rescue rope.

Preferably the second lanyard is made of or marked with a material of a high visibility colour.

Preferably the second lanyard is made of a material of a similar strength, texture and composition to that of the harness material. This material may be nylon webbing.

The second lanyard can be added to existing equipment, without requiring replacement of the harness and first lanyard.

Accordingly the invention further provides a method of adapting conventional fall arrest equipment comprising a safety harness for supporting a person and a first lanyard said first lanyard, attached to said harness, for arresting the fall of said person the method comprising attaching, alongside said first lanyard, a second lanyard for attaching to a rescue rope in order to lift or lower the person after a fall, said first and second lanyards being such that when said first lanyard is under tension, there is some slack in said second lanyard.

The second lanyard can either be slightly longer than that of the first lanyard or can be made of a different, more elastic, material.

Preferably the second lanyard is made of a material such as webbing The second lanyard may be attached to the lower end of the first lanyard by a knot, which may be a tape knot.

The invention yet further provides an accessory for use with fall arrest equipment, the accessory comprising a lanyard with a detachable coupling device at one end, for use as a second lanyard in a method or apparatus embodying the invention as set forth above.

The accessory may be supplied in combination with instructions for performing the method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows fall arrest equipment according to one embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 shows an assembly for lowering a casualty to the ground after a fall using the fall arrest equipment of Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows an assembly for raising a casualty after a fall using the fall arrest equipment of Figure 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Figure 1 shows safety equipment comprising a standard fall arrest lanyard 11 hooked to the underside of a lockable hook 12 at one end and attached to a shock absorber 13 at the other. Attached to the other end of this shock absorber 13 is a first karabiner 15 for attaching to a standard safety harness (not shown). A karabiner (or carabiner) will be known to the skilled reader as an oblong ring that snaps or screws shut. Other forms of detachable coupling can of course be used. A rescue lanyard 16 is attached at one end to a screw gate karabiner 17. Rescue lanyard 16 may, for example, comprise a 2.5m length of 0.25 webbing. In this embodiment, the rescue lanyard is made of high-visibility red material, for ease of identification. This karabiner 17 then hooks onto the underside of the hook 12. The other end of the karabiner 17 is tied to the top end (static end) of the shock absorber 13 using a tape knot.

In use, the fall arrest lanyard 11 is secured to an anchoring point, found for example, on a building or scaffolding, by the hook 12. this secures the safety harness in event of a fall. Neither lanyard 11,16 should be under any tension in a normal, no-fall, situation.

It is important that there is slack in the rescue lanyard 16 when the fall arrest lanyard 11 is under tension, as is the case after a fall. This can be achieved either by making the rescue lanyard 16 slightly longer than the fall arrest lanyard 11 or by making the lanyards of different materials, such that the rescue lanyard 16 is more yielding under tension.

Wearing this adapted apparatus a falling person will have their fall arrested by the fall arrest lanyard 11, while their energy will be dissipated by the shock absorber 13. This will protect them from jarring/whiplash injuries, or injuries from the harness itself. The person will remain suspended in such a way until rescue. Only now, when they have come

to a halt, there will be a second lanyard 16 attached to the harness which is under little or no tension. A rescue rope can be quickly attached to this second lanyard 16 and lowering/lifting gear set up. The first lanyard can then be cut and the person moved to receive treatment.

Referring to Figure 2, we can see an assembly suitable for lowering a casualty to the ground after a fall (this is generally preferable). On reaching the casualty a suitable anchor point 201 should be found above and close to the point of fall and a sling 204 attached. The path of descent below this anchor point 201 should be clear of obstacles.

The karabiner 17 of the rescue lanyard 16 is then disconnected from the fall arrest lanyard 11 and the knotted end 203 of the rescue rope 202 attached securely to the karabiner 17. The karabiner 17 must then be locked (Although this way around is certainly preferable, it is possible to do this after the lifting gear is set up).

A second karabiner 205 is then attached to the sling 204 and a swing pulley 206 is attached in turn to this karabiner 205 which is then locked. The rescue rope 202 is then fed through the swing pulley 206.

A second suitable anchor point 207, lower and to one side of the first, must then be found. A further sling 208 and karabiner 209 is attached to this anchor point 207. The rescue rope 202 is fed through an open stop 210 in an S shape. The stop 210 is closed and attached and locked to the karabiner 209. The rope 202 must be tied off after the stop 210 and be pulled tight (Arrow T) to take the strain of the casualty.

The fall arrest lanyard 11 can now be cut and the casualty now settles on the rescue lanyard 16. Ensuring the stop 210 is taking the weight of the casualty, the knot is untied after the stop 210 and the casualty lowered gradually by slowly and carefully releasing the stop 210.

It is not always possible to lower the casualty to the ground as there may be obstacles or protrusions below them. In such a case the casualty may have to be raised.

This again is much easier and quicker when a rescue lanyard has been provided.

Referring to figure 3, the first steps of the procedure are the same as for lowering the casualty. A suitable anchoring point 301 is located above the point of fall, (although in this

case the anchoring point should be at least four metres above), the karabiner 17 of the rescue lanyard 16 is then detached from the hook 12 of the fall arrest lanyard 11 and attached and locked to the rescue rope 302 (As with the lowering example, this could be done after the lifting gear has been set up).

A sling 303 and karabiner 304 are attached to the anchor point 301 as before. The rescue rope 302 is fed through a first dumar ascender 305 and a swing pulley 306, both of which are then attached to the karabiner 304. The dumar 305 ascender is locked into place and the karabiner 304 locked.

A suitable second anchor point 306, to one side and at a similar height, must then be located and a further sling 307 and karabiner 308 attached in the usual way. The rescue rope 302 is then fed through a further swing pulley 309 which is then attached to the karabiner 308 and locked into place.

A third swing pulley 310 is attached to a karabiner 311 and this karabiner 311 to a second dumar ascender 312. This dumar ascender 312 is finally attached to the vertical portion of the rescue rope 302 immediately above the casualty and locked into place.

The rescue rope 302 is then pulled so as to take the strain of the casualty, and the casualty is then lifted slightly until his harness hook and consequently, the fall arrest lanyard 11 can be detached. The casualty can then be gradually raised to a safe platform, the second dumar ascender 312 being moved in stages as this is done.

The invention does not have to be limited to the above examples, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Examples of modifications include, setting the length of the rescue lanyard by where it is attached to the bottom the fall arrest lanyard and whether it is knotted, stitched or attached by other means, the dimensions and colour of the rescue lanyard. Modifications can also be made to any of the steps in which the invention is used in rescue. Note this is a non-exhaustive list and other modifications are envisaged.

Claims

1. Fall arrest equipment comprising a safety harness for supporting a person and at least first and second lanyards attached to said harness, said first lanyard being for arresting the fall of said person and said second lanyard for attaching to a rescue line in order to lift or lower the person after a fall, said first and second lanyards being such that when said first lanyard is under tension, there is some slack in said second lanyard.

2. Fall arrest equipment as claimed in claim 1 wherein the second lanyard is longer than that of the first lanyard.

3. Fall arrest equipment as claimed in claim 1 wherein said second lanyard is attached to a different point than said first lanyard.

4. Fall arrest equipment as claimed in claim 1 wherein the second lanyard is made of a different material than that of the first lanyard, said different material having greater elasticity.

5. Fall arrest equipment as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the second lanyard is attached via an end of the first lanyard.

6. Fall arrest equipment as claimed in claim 1 to 4 wherein the second lanyard is independently attached to the other parts of the apparatus.

7. Fall arrest equipment as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the first lanyard is fitted to the harness via a shock absorber.

8. Fall arrest equipment as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the first lanyard has a hook attached to one end for attaching to anchoring means.

9. Fall arrest equipment as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the second lanyard has a releasable coupling device at one end for attaching to the first lanyard or, in event of a fall, to a rescue rope.

10. Fall arrest equipment as claimed in claim 9 wherein said releasable coupling device is a karabiner.

11. Fall arrest equipment as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the second lanyard is made of or marked with a material of a high visibility colour.

12. Fall arrest equipment as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the second lanyard is made of a material of a similar strength, texture and composition to that of the harness material.

13. Fall arrest equipment as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the second lanyard is made of nylon webbing.

14. Fall arrest equipment as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the harness is made of nylon webbing.

15. Fall arrest equipment as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the second lanyard is added to existing equipment, without replacement of the harness and first lanyard.

16. A method of adapting conventional fall arrest equipment comprising a safety harness for supporting a person and a first lanyard said first lanyard, attached to said harness, for arresting the fall of said person the method comprising attaching, alongside said first lanyard, a second lanyard for attaching to a rescue rope in order to lift or lower the person after a fall, said first and second lanyards being such that when said first lanyard is under tension, there is some slack in said second lanyard.

17. A method as claimed in claim 16 wherein said second lanyard is longer than that of the first lanyard.

18. A method as claimed in claim 16 wherein said second lanyard is attached to a different point than said first lanyard.

19. A method as claimed in claim 16 wherein said second lanyard is made of a different material than that of the first lanyard, said different material having greater elasticity.

20. A method as claimed in claims 16 to 19 wherein the second lanyard is attached via an end of the first lanyard.

21. A method as claimed in claims 16 to 19 wherein the second lanyard is independently attached to the other parts of the apparatus.

22. A method as claimed in claims 16 to 21 wherein the first lanyard is fitted to the harness via a shock absorber.

23. A method as claimed in claims 16 to 22 wherein the first lanyard has a hook attached to one end for attaching to anchoring means.

24. A method as claimed in claims 16 to 23 wherein the second lanyard has a releasable coupling device at one end for attaching to the first lanyard or, in event of a fall, to a rescue rope.

25. A method as claimed in claim 24 wherein said releasable coupling device is a karabiner.

26. A method as claimed in claims 16 to 25 wherein the second lanyard is made of or marked with a material of a high visibility colour.

27. A method as claimed in claims 16 to 26 wherein the second lanyard is made of a material such as webbing.

28. A method as claimed in claims 16 to 27 wherein the second lanyard is attached to the lower end of the first lanyard by a knot

29. A method as claimed in claim 28 wherein said knot is a tape knot.

30. An accessory for use with fall arrest equipment, the accessory comprising a lanyard with a detachable coupling device at one end, for use as a second lanyard in fall arrest equipment as claimed in claims 1 to 15.

31. An accessory for use with fall arrest equipment, the accessory comprising a lanyard with a detachable coupling device at one end, for use as a second lanyard in a method as claimed in claims 16 to 29.

32. An accessory as claimed in claim 30 or 31 wherein it is supplied in combination with instructions for performing the method.