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Dennington's Advantage

Present Problem with Harnesses

OSHA Standards

ANSI Standards

Need for Higher Standard in Fall Protection

Catch-22 in the Federal Standards

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Problem

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics there were 303,817 nonfatal injuries caused from falls in private industry in 2000. Further, there were 640 fatal work-related injuries caused from falls in private industry in 2000. Please note that there is an indication that 640 deaths is a preliminary figure. We believe this figure is actually low because according to NIOSH, between 1980 and 1995 there were 9,070 fatal work-related injuries on an average.

Using these figures it is estimated that approximately 832 workers are injured per day due to falls. This is unacceptable since we can provide the answer to this problem.

Federal OSHA has stated in 29 CFR 1926.501 that "Each employee on a walking/working surface (horizontal and vertical surface) with an unprotected side or edge which is 6 feet (1.8 m) or more above a lower level shall be protected from falling by the use of guardrail systems, safety net system, or personal fall arrest systems." Further, this requirement is duplicated for "Leading edges", "Hoist areas", "Holes", Formwork and Reinforcing Steel", "Excavations", "Dangerous equipment", "Overhand bricklaying and related work", "Roofing work on low-slope roofs", "Steep roofs", "Precast concrete erection, and the list of areas covered goes on.

A review of the OSHA regulations governing fall protection shows that in 29 CFR 1926.502(d) "If a personal fall arrest system is used for fall protection, it must do the following:....Limit maximum arresting force on an employee to 1,800 pounds (8 kiloNewtons) when used with a body harness; Be rigged so that an employee can neither free fall more than 6 feet nor contact any lower level".

Further, OSHA states in 29 CFR 1910.132 (d) that "The employer shall assess the workplace to determine if hazards are present, or are likely to be present, which necessitate the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). If such hazards are present, or likely to be present, the employer shall: (i) Select, and have each affected employee use, the type of PPE that will protect the affected employee from the hazards identified in the hazard assessment; (ii) Communicate selection decisions to each affected employee; and, (iii) Select PPE that properly fits each affected employee."

Since Federal OSHA has stated that persons working over 6 feet off the ground must have fall protection, then the persons mentioned above who were injured or killed in these accidents, assuming the requirements of 1910.132 were met, were more likely than not wearing fall protection when the accident occurred. We feel that the accidents occurred because the employer did not select the proper PPE for the fall hazard due to the fact that any full body harness on the market today, although they will arrest a fall, is likely to contribute to injury at the time of the fall due to contact with lower levels and contacting the structure which the person is tied off to. In effect when a fall occurs with that equipment simple dynamics will slam the wearer into the structure on which he is connected, causing injury and sometimes death. We also feel that the equipment which is on the market today allows a user to fall a total distance of 9 ½ feet which is derived from the 6 foot lanyard and the addition of elongation which equals 9 ½ feet. Since it is general industry knowledge that all buildings are built in 10 foot increments it stands to reason that any fall which includes elongation will contact the user with a lower level. This is a clear violation to the General Duty Clause (29 USC 654).

Federal OSHA states in 29 USC 654 that "Each employer shall furnish to each of his employees, employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees".

 

The Answer to the Problem

The Dennington Safety Harness was conceived and developed by Mark Dennington, a union ironworker from Louisiana. He envisioned a need for a higher standard in fall protection for quite some time.

The Dennington Safety Harness is that higher standard. There is a rapidly growing list of prominent national and international companies and unions that agree with us. The Dennington Safety Harness has three distinct and significant advantages that set it apart from all other competition.

 

Summary

Various OSHA standards indicate that an employer must assess a situation and provide proper protection where needed. Proper protection has not been available until now. The Dennington Safety Harness exceeds OSHA standards and eliminates other problems associated with falls other than contact with a lower level. This in itself separates the Dennington Safety Harness from other harnesses which are presently offered on the market.

We believe that since our Harness is the higher standard available and meets and exceeds OSHA standards and provides a higher quality of fall protection than any other harness on the market that it is clearly the only product which should be used in the event a fall hazard is assessed.