Sector: electrical engineering

Type of hazard: mechanical hazards

Catchwords: hazard of falls and falls from a height, personal protective equipment, ergonomics

Status: completed 12/1996

Financed by: Berufsgenossenschaft der Feinmechanik und Elektrotechnik

Research institution(s): Bergische Universität/Gesamthochschule Wuppertal, Fachbereich Sicherheitstechnik

Description, key words:

Established influences of construction and weight (ergonomics) of the safety harness on its acceptance to serve as a basis for a new development

Aims:

Fall accidents caused through not wearing safety harnesses. Goal: investigation of the influence of fall geometry through existing constructional equipment with the use of safety harnesses; deriving measures to improve accident prevention.

Activities/methods:

Carrying out fall tests with safety harnesses along a fixed wall starting the fall from different positions. Alternatively, carrying out fall tests using type B catching harnesses. Establishing the catching forces in all fall tests, the surface pressures as well as film documentation of the fall geometry. Questioning experimentees and employees about comfort.

Results:

Wearing acceptance of the catching harness is above all negatively influenced by its construction and weight. On the basis of the results in phase 1 a catching harness will therefore be developed in the framework of the continuation of the project, which leads to greater acceptance as a result of improved construction and reduced weight

last update: 22.08.2000