Three times a harness gets looked at
Harness inspection isn't one job. It's three, done by different people, and only one of them has a date on the calendar:
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Before each use
The worker wearing it
Webbing, stitching, hardware and label, in a couple of minutes. A failure goes out of service on the spot.
OSHA 1926.502(d)(21)
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Periodically
A competent person, not the user
A documented inspection at least yearly, more often for heavy use. This is the date you track.
ANSI Z359; manufacturer
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After a fall
Nobody, until a competent person clears it
Any harness or lanyard that arrested a fall leaves service at once. Most are destroyed.
OSHA 1926.502(d)(19)
The same applies to the rest of the personal fall arrest system: the lanyard or self-retracting lifeline (SRL), its connectors, and the anchor it clips to. A good harness on a cut lanyard is still a failed system.
The check before each use
It takes two or three minutes, done by the person about to wear it, in good light. Bend the webbing in a U as you go: small cuts and burns hide when it's flat. Work from top to bottom in the same order every time:
- 1 The label. Present and readable: model, date of manufacture, the standard it meets. No label, no harness, because no one can tell how old it is or what it's rated for.
- 2 Webbing. Cuts, frays, burns, melted spots from welding spatter, paint or chemical stains, stiff or glazed areas, and fading from the sun.
- 3 Stitching. Pulled, cut or broken threads, especially at the D-ring and the leg straps. Stitching in a contrasting colour makes damage easy to see.
- 4 Fall indicator. Many harnesses and lanyards have a fold or tag that tears out in a fall. If it's deployed, the harness has arrested a fall: out of service.
- 5 Hardware. D-rings, buckles and adjusters: cracks, bends, sharp edges, rust or pitting. Buckles must engage and hold; adjusters must not slip.
- 6 Lanyard or SRL. Snap hooks and carabiners close and lock on their own. The shock pack is intact. An SRL pulls out smoothly, locks on a sharp tug and retracts fully.
The competent person's inspection
On top of the user's check, the ANSI/ASSP Z359 fall-protection standards and nearly every manufacturer call for a documented inspection by a competent person other than the user, at intervals no longer than a year. Heavy use, harsh conditions or the manufacturer's instructions can shorten that. For SRLs, Z359.14 sets the interval by how hard they're used, from yearly for light use to quarterly or more for severe use.
OSHA defines a competent person as someone able to identify existing and predictable hazards, with the authority to take prompt corrective measures (1926.32(f)). In practice that's usually a foreman or safety lead who has done a fall-protection competent person course, or the gear's distributor.
What they do differently
- The same points as the user's check, slower, with the manual open
- Compare the label against recalls and the manufacturer's service-life limit
- Sign and date a record for that one harness
Why it isn't the user
- The person who wears it every day stops seeing slow wear
- A second pair of eyes catches a habit: the lanyard always clipped to the leg strap
- The signature belongs to someone who can pull gear from service
Do them all at once. Pick a month, gather every harness and lanyard, and inspect the lot. Spreading them across the year means some are always overdue. The equipment inspection checklist lists the rest of what usually has a date to keep.
When a harness is finished
A harness comes out of service, and is usually destroyed so it can't drift back, when:
Remove from service when
- It has arrested a fall. OSHA 1926.502(d)(19): out of service until a competent person finds it undamaged. Most manufacturers say destroy it.
- It fails any point of the inspection. Harness webbing isn't repaired in the field. Some manufacturers repair hardware or SRLs; nobody else should.
- The label is gone or unreadable. Without it there's no date of manufacture and no rating.
- It's past the manufacturer's service life. OSHA sets no fixed age. Many manufacturers do, or tie it to inspection; the manual says which.
- It's been altered. Extra holes, knots in the webbing, a lanyard tied off instead of clipped.
Cut the webbing of a retired harness before it goes in the bin. A harness in a skip is a harness someone takes home or back to site.
What to record
For each harness, the record should answer the questions an auditor or an insurer asks after an incident: which harness, was it inspected, by whom, and what happened to it next.
The harness
Your number on it, plus model, serial and date of manufacture from the label.
Each inspection
Date, who did it, pass or fail, and what was found. Keep the signed form or a photo of it.
Where it is
Who it's issued to, or which van or gang box. A harness that wanders misses its inspection.
Number each harness and its lanyard on the label or a tag that won't wash off. “Six harnesses” can't have six inspection dates; harness 1 through 6 can.