How to Reduce Swing Falls

Conducting an elevated worksite hazard assessment allows you to rule out passive fall protection options for your workers. Once you have determined that you need to use an active fall protection system, it’s important to consider the following things in order to avoid swing falls.

Your active fall protection system must be able to reach all of the areas where your workers need to travel in order to perform their tasks. The reason for needing all access fall protection is because the anchorage and connection devices need to remain directly over the worker’s head at all times. There is some wiggle-room on this concept because a worker can be up to a 30° angle from their connection point. However, any angle that is beyond 30° is no longer considered a reasonably safe worksite. The reasoning behind the 30° rule is that if the worker has more than 30° worth of space to swing after a fall, they may be able to gain enough momentum to cause serious bodily harm either from the harness or swinging far enough to hit an obstruction with force.

In designing your system, you need to ensure that the height of the anchorage point and the length of the lanyard/deceleration device is short enough that it will not allow a worker to strike an object or make contact with a lower level in the event of a fall. The best way to make sure that your workers are protected properly is to take measurements of the location and assess the geometry of the situation. We encourage people to consult with a structural engineer during this process to ensure that all anchorage elements are being taken into consideration.

You want to design and install systems in a manner where the worker will minimize the possibility of encountering obstructions in the event of a fall. It’s very important to consider what you COULD hit in the event of a fall as a proactive way of minimizing worker injury. There is always a degree of bounce and swing in a fall arrest event. The goal should always be to minimize these from occurring in any elevated worksite analysis.

Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Hannah Addison