A safety harness is a form of protective equipment designed to safeguard the user from injury or death from falling. The core item of a fall arrest system, the harness is usually fabricated from

rope A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similarl ...

, braided wire cable, or synthetic webbing. It is attached securely to a stationary object directly by a locking device or indirectly via a rope, cable, or webbing and one or more locking devices. Some safety harnesses are used in combination with a shock-absorbing

lanyard A lanyard is a cord, length of webbing, or strap that may serve any of various functions, which include a means of attachment, restraint, retrieval, and activation and deactivation. A lanyard is also a piece of rigging used to secure or lo ...

, which is used to regulate deceleration and thereby prevent a serious

G-force The gravitational force equivalent, or, more commonly, g-force, is a measurement of the type of force per unit mass – typically acceleration – that causes a perception of weight, with a g-force of 1 g (not gram in mass measur ...

injury when the end of the rope is reached. An unrelated use with a materially different arresting mechanism is

bungee jumping Bungee jumping (), also spelled bungy jumping, is an activity that involves a person jumping from a great height while connected to a large elastic cord. The launching pad is usually erected on a tall structure such as a building or crane, a ...

. Though they share certain similar attributes, a safety harness is not to be confused with a

climbing harness A climbing harness is a device which allows a climber access to the safety of a rope. It is used in rock and ice climbing, abseiling, and lowering; this is in contrast to other activities requiring ropes for access or safety such as industrial ...

used for mountaineering,

rock climbing Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically a ...

, and climbing gyms. Specialized harnesses for animal rescue or transfer, as from a dock to a vessel, are also made.

Standards

In North America, safety harnesses designed for protection against falls from heights in industrial and construction activities are covered by performance standards issued by the

American National Standards Institute The American National Standards Institute (ANSI ) is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The orga ...

(ANSI) in the United States and by CSA Group (formerly known as the Canadian Standards Association) in Canada. Specifically, the standards issued are ANSI Z359.1 and CSA Z259.10. These standards are updated approximately every four to five years.

Classifications

There are four classes of fall protection systems: * Class 1 Body belts (single or double D-ring), designed to restrain a person in a hazardous work position, prevent a fall, or arrest it completely within ( OSHA). * Class 2 Chest harnesses, used only with limited fall hazards (including no vertical free fall), or for retrieving persons, as from a tank or bin. * Class 3 Full body harnesses, designed to arrest the most severe free falls. * Class 4 Suspension belts, independent supports used to suspend a worker, such as

boatswain A boatswain ( , ), bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, also known as a deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department, is the most senior rate of the deck department and is responsible for the components of a ship's hull. The boatswain supervis ...

's chairs or raising or lowering harnesses.

Other types

Other forms of safety harnesses include: *

Seat belt A seat belt (also known as a safety belt, or spelled seatbelt) is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt red ...

s. * Child safety seats. * Over-the-shoulder restraints used on

thrill rides Thrill may refer to: Music * ''Thrill'', a 2000 album by Eleni Mandell * "Thrill", a 1995 song by Tomoyasu Hotei * "Thrill", a song by Band-Maid from the 2015 album '' New Beginning'' Other uses * Thrill (TV channel), a Southeast Asian movie ch ...

at amusement parks. * A seat with a full-body harness such as used by fighter pilots and racing car drivers. *

Diving harness Surface-supplied diving is diving using equipment supplied with breathing gas using a diver's umbilical from the surface, either from the shore or from a diving support vessel, sometimes indirectly via a diving bell. This is different from scub ...

es as used in

surface supplied diving Surface-supplied diving is diving using equipment supplied with breathing gas using a diver's umbilical from the surface, either from the shore or from a diving support vessel, sometimes indirectly via a diving bell. This is different from scub ...

by professional divers.

Uses

Occupations that may involve the use of safety harnesses include: *

Window cleaner Window cleaning, or window washing, is the exterior cleaning of architectural glass used for structural, lighting, or decorative purposes. It can be done manually, using a variety of tools for cleaning and access. Technology is also employed an ...

* Theatrical

fly crew Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

member *

Construction worker A construction worker is a worker employed in the physical construction of the built environment and its infrastructure. Definition By some definitions, workers may be engaged in manual labour as unskilled or semi-skilled workers; they may be sk ...

Crane operator In cinematography, the dolly grip is a dedicated technician trained to operate the camera dolly. This technician places, levels, and moves the dolly track, then pushes and pulls the dolly and usually a camera operator and camera assistant as r ...

* Bridge painter * Lineman *

Rock climber Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and ...

Motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of t ...

* Scaffolder *

Sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' ( land yacht) over a chose ...

High ropes A ropes course is a challenging outdoor personal development and team building activity which usually consists of high and/or low elements. Low elements take place on the ground or above the ground. High elements are usually constructed in tr ...

Bungee jumping Bungee jumping (), also spelled bungy jumping, is an activity that involves a person jumping from a great height while connected to a large elastic cord. The launching pad is usually erected on a tall structure such as a building or crane, a ...

* Professional diver

References

Jones & Bartlett. Fire Fighter Skills. 2nd ed. Boston, Toronto, London, Singapore: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2009. pp243–244. Print.

External links