HARNESS AND LANYARD INSPECTION TRAINING AID

This document was prepared for the benefit of personnel who wear fall protection PPE and/or
personnel who inspect and manage a fall protection program. The aid consists of photographs
taken from my many years of heavy construction projects around the world. Fall protection
equipment inspection and auditing was of particular concern to me as a Safety Professional
knowing that falls account for the large majority of incidents on construction sites.

The photographs do not represent anyone Project or anyone organization but is a snapshot of
common conditions found during audits from organizations who had safety records superior to the
industry. Organizations need to look far beyond their safety records by going to the work site and
engage supervisors and workers to confirm if programs are actually being implemented. Waiting
for incidents to identify flaws in a fall prevention program is not pro-active.

Questionable or poor fall protection equipment found during inspections were considered near
misses with time rendered to root cause identification and corrective action. Most if not all
conditions revealed lack of knowledge by users and supervisors as well as lack of a comprehensive
Competent Person Inspection Program. Improved training and inspection/auditing programs
resulted.

This Training Aid consists of many revisions that were made during my 40 year construction career.
When I was working the sharing of information was always an important part of the programs I was
responsible for - now extending into my retirement years. I hope you can use it to improve your
respective program(s). The document has no copyright and is available to anyone having a need to
enhance their respective fall protection equipment inspection training and inspection programs.
Feel free to contact me for any questions you may have.

Thomas Van Hooser CSP, CPEA, OHST, CHST

Tvanhooser@aol.com

1 August 2016
Harness and Lanyard Inspection Training Aid Barzan Onshore Project

HARNESS AND LANYARD INSPECTION

TRAINING AID

This training aid was prepared for the benefit of the following personnel in conducting
proper inspections of fall arrest harnesses and lanyards:

 Users for their pre-use inspection.

 Supervisors for random checks of their worker’s fall arrest gear.
 Safety Officers for random check of worker’s fall arrest gear.
 The Designated Competent Person for reference during monthly inspections.
 Training Supervisors to help explain inspection practices to trainees during fall
protection training.

This training aid is for reference and awareness purposes for both the end users as well
as those only inspecting the fall protection equipment. It is by no means an exhaustive
reference and merely highlights common defects noted on site regarding fall protection
and the associated equipment. It is a source of additional information that should be
consulted during inspections if uncertainties arise. It should however not be solely relied
upon for determination of adequacy of the gear in question. Determination of suitability is
done on a case by case basis and is ultimately the competent fall arrest equipment
inspector’s judgment call based on their knowledge and experience.

DESIGNATED COMPETENT PERSONS NOTE:

Persons designated as Fall Arrest Equipment Inspectors by their Employer must

complete Project specialized training in order to qualify as a Competent Person (CP)
Fall Arrest inspector. The CP must be familiar with regulatory standards as well as
Project Procedures and manufacturer literature to ensure good judgment during all
inspections.

The CP must also maintain an up to date register listing all harnesses inspected each
month with the corresponding serial numbers. The register must be used to record items
that require closer examination in subsequent inspections to determine if concerns have
worsened. All rejected items found during the inspection need to be destroyed with the
item lined out on the register with a note that item was defective and destroyed.

INSPECTION + CORRECTION = PROTECTION

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Harness and Lanyard Inspection Training Aid Barzan Onshore Project

 CUT WEBBING AND STITCHING

 WORN LANYARD TERMINATION

 GRIME BUILDUP

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Harness and Lanyard Inspection Training Aid Barzan Onshore Project

 CORROSION AND PITTING OF BASE METAL

 CORROSION OF D-RING UNDER WEBBING
 CORROSION AND PITTING ON HOOK TIP
 DISCOLORATION OF WEBBING FROM LONG EXPOSURE TO UV
RAYS

 DAMAGED WEBBING ON LANYARD ON BOTH SIDES

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Harness and Lanyard Inspection Training Aid Barzan Onshore Project

 SHOCK ABSORBER JACKET DETERIORATED AND

OPEN, EXPOSING ABSORBER TO ELEMENTS/ENTRY
OF HARMFUL DEBRIS.

 ABRASIONS AND BROKEN WEBBING STRANDS

ON EDGE OF LANYARD (BOTH SIDES)

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Harness and Lanyard Inspection Training Aid Barzan Onshore Project

 WORN WEBBING ON HARNESS EDGES &

BROKEN STITCHING

 HARNESS BELONGS TO A PIPE FITTER. METAL PARTICLES

WERE NOTED IMPREGNATED INTO THE WEBBING FABRIC.
OVER TIME THIS WILL DETERIORATE THE WEBBING,
CREATING A POSSIBLE FAILURE POINT.

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Harness and Lanyard Inspection Training Aid Barzan Onshore Project

 HOOK GATE DOES NOT FULLY CLOSE

 RUST AND GRIME IMPREGNATION

 CORROSION
(PITTED)

 THE ZINC COATING WHICH PROTECTS THE METAL D-RING

IS WORN THEREBY VOIDING THE PROTECTIVE
PROPERTIES OF THE COATING.

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Harness and Lanyard Inspection Training Aid Barzan Onshore Project

 WORN AND FRAYED WEBB

NEAR D-RING
 BASE METALCORROSION ON D-
RING

SEVERE EVIDENCE OF UV EXPOSURE. UV DAMAGE

CAN REDUCE STRENGTH OF WEBBING AS MUCH AS
25% - 30% or more. Read manufacturer
precautions.

 UV DAMAGE TO HARNESS WEBBING

 EVIDENCE OF CONTAMINATION
 CORROSION ON SNAP HOOK AND D-RING
 FRAYING OF EDGES OF HARNESS AT SEVERAL
LOCATIONS

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Harness and Lanyard Inspection Training Aid Barzan Onshore Project

 D-RING POSITIONED BEHIND WEBBING FOUND WITH

PITTING/ CORROSION. UV DAMAGE.
 THIS AREA OF THE D-RING IS SELDOM PROPERLY
INSPECTED BECAUSE IT IS HIDDEN

 ABRASION ON WEBBING
 CORROSION AND PITTING OF D-RING
 WORN ZINC METAL PROTECTION

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Harness and Lanyard Inspection Training Aid Barzan Onshore Project

 INCORRECT WEARING OF HARNESS

 D-RING RIDING LOW ON BACK. D-RING TO BE
POSITIONED HIGHER, BETWEEN SHOULDER BLADES.

 HARNESS FRAYING ON EDGES

 D-RING CORROSION WITH PITTING
 ZINC COATING DETERIORATION

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Harness and Lanyard Inspection Training Aid Barzan Onshore Project

 BASE METAL CORROSION AND PITTING ON SNAP HOOK

AND RIVETS

 TOOL BELT D-RING SEVERELY PITTED

 BROKEN WEBBING, STITCHING. FALLING OBJECT HAZARD

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Harness and Lanyard Inspection Training Aid Barzan Onshore Project

 EVIDENCE OF ABRASION AND CUTTING FROM BUCKLE

 BROKEN STITCHING
 CORROSION ON BUCKLE

 EVIDENCE OF ABRASION AND FRAYING FROM BUCKLE

WITH CORROSION ON BUCKLE
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Harness and Lanyard Inspection Training Aid Barzan Onshore Project

 BROKEN STITCHING AND WEBBING

 SIGNS OF ABRASION NEAR D-RING

 BROKEN STITCHING AND WEBBING

 SIGNS OF ABRASION NEAR D-RING. SAME AS ABOVE
(DIFFERENT VIEW)

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Harness and Lanyard Inspection Training Aid Barzan Onshore Project

 UV DAMAGE ON WEBBING
 CORROSION ON D-RING AND SNAP HOOK
 CORROSION RESIDUE ON WEBBING
 SOME FRAYING OF WEBBING

 YO-YO FOUND IN STORAGE. NO “DO NOT USE TAG”

AND NO ISOLATION TO PREVENT USE
 CORROSION ON CABLE AND CONNECTOR

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 Harness and Lanyard Inspection Training Aid Barzan Onshore Project

 WATER CANTEEN LANYARD

AND YELLOW VEST COULD
FOUL SNAP HOOK GATES
CREATING HAZARD.
 WORKERS AT HEIGHT NEED TO
BE FREE OF SUCH LOOSE
OBJECTS.

 PROJECT PROCEDURE REQUIRES

CONNECTORS TO BE SELF-
CLOSING AND SELF-LOCKING.THIS
CARABINER IS NOT SELF-LOCKING.
 PERSON WAS NOT AWARE OF
REQUIREMENTS.

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Harness and Lanyard Inspection Training Aid Barzan Onshore Project

 TOOL BELT SEVERELY DAMAGED (falling object hazards)

 CORROSION ON D-RING

 TOOL POUCH WORN AND DETERIORATED

 FALLING OBJECT HAZARD

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Harness and Lanyard Inspection Training Aid Barzan Onshore Project

 HOOK DOES NOT CLOSE FULLY. CORROSSION FOUND

INSIDE CLOSING MECHANISM

 SAME HOOK AS ABOVE SHOWING SEVERE BASE METAL

CORROSION ON SELF CLOSING MECHANISM.

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Harness and Lanyard Inspection Training Aid Barzan Onshore Project

 WEBBING DAMAGE & BROKEN STITCHING

 D-RING PITTED CORROSION

 WELDERS HARNESS NOTED WITH WELD SPATTER

DAMAGE, BROKEN STICHING, FRAYED EDGES AT
MULTIPLE LOCATIONS. WELDERS PPE NEEDS EXTRA
ORDINARY INSPECTION.

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Harness and Lanyard Inspection Training Aid Barzan Onshore Project

 BUCKLE CORROSION AND FRAYED WEBBING EDGE. THIS

PORTION OF BUCKLE IS SELDOM INSPECTED

 INCORRECT WEARING OF HARNESS. D-RING NOT

PROPERLY POSITIONED AND LOOSE FITTING HARNESS.

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