How far do you need to fall to become seriously injured? Not more than a couple of metres. It’s understandable to assume safety when you feel capable as you cut branches off the tree in your garden particularly if you have a lot of experience of working at height. But even the most capable, knowledgeable roofer or tree surgeon has experienced serious injury while working off the ground. Why? Because when something goes wrong, you’ve absolutely no opportunity to respond. Once gravity takes over, you’ve no time to correct the error.
Therefore utterly vital you prevent yourself from such mishaps when working at height by utilizing fall arrest safety equipment. It’s irrelevant if you’re simply cutting a few branches from a tree, fall arrest equipment is indispensable.
So what type of fall arrest safety equipment are we talking about here? Depending on the job you must perform, you could be looking at any in this list: Harnesses (including full body harness and sit harness), Pole straps, Slings, Static line rope and rope protection, Lanyards, Kits, Karabiners, Pulleys, and rope grabs and connectors.
If you work at height professionally, such as forestry, quarries ,docks and ports, or construction engineering - you should have been drilled in height safety and be knowledgeable with safety equipment. If otherwise, you’re placing yourself at great risk.