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Industrial Rope Access - Investigation Into Items of Personal Protective Equipment

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Industrial Rope Access - Investigation Into Items of Personal Protective Equipment HSE Health & Safety Executive Industrial rope access - Investigation into items of personal protective equipment Prepared by Lyon Equipment Limited for the Health and Safety Executive CONTRACT RESEARCH REPORT 364/2001 HSE Health & Safety Executive Industrial rope access - Investigation into items of personal protective equipment Adam Long, Malcolm Lyon and Graham Lyon Lyon Equipment Limited Rise Hill Mill Dent Sedbergh Cumbria LA10 5QL United Kingdom An investigation into items of equipment used for work at height in industrial rope access and arboriculture. Techniques and equipment used in these areas have evolved rapidly in the last 15 years, opening up new working methods which are being deployed in equally rapidly expanding areas. The investigation comprises tests and evaluations of ropes and associated items such as lanyards, cow’s tails, termination and other knots, and rope protectors. It proceeds to look at items of equipment which are attached to working and safety ropes to allow movement in all directions along them. These so- called rope adjustment devices include back-up devices, ascenders and descenders. Testing included worst-case scenario dynamic loadings, some fall factor 2, and others fall factor 1. Evaluation includes discussion on how rope access and work-positioning may be effected using the items tested to minimise or eliminate falls. Reference has been made to existing and draft European standards, in particular, prEN 12841 (May 2000) Personal protective equipment for the prevention of falls from a height: Rope Access Work positioning systems – Rope adjustment devices, BS EN 1891:1998 Personal protective equipment for the prevention of falls from a height – Low stretch kernmantel ropes and BS EN 353-2:1993 Personal protective equipment for the prevention of falls from a height: guided type fall arresters. This report and the work it describes were funded by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Its contents, including any opinions and/or conclusions expressed, are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect HSE policy. HSE BOOKS © Crown copyright 2001 Applications for reproduction should be made in writing to: Copyright Unit, Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, St Clements House, 2-16 Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BQ First published 2001 ISBN 0 7176 2091 3 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. ii CONTENTS 1 PRINCIPLES .........................................................................................................................1 1.1 INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE .............................................................................................. 2 1.3 QUESTIONNAIRE........................................................................................................................ 3 1.4 TESTING...................................................................................................................................... 3 2 ROPES ..................................................................................................................................7 2.1 INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................... 7 2.2 ROPE TYPES .............................................................................................................................. 7 2.3 ULTIMATE STATIC STRENGTH .................................................................................................9 2.4 ROPES: SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 10 3 KNOTS ................................................................................................................................11 3.1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................ 11 3.2 METHODS ................................................................................................................................. 11 3.3 RESULTS................................................................................................................................... 12 3.4 CONTAMINATED ROPE TESTS............................................................................................... 20 4 ANCHOR FORCES .............................................................................................................23 4.1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................ 23 4.2 ABSEILING ................................................................................................................................ 23 4.3 ASCENDING.............................................................................................................................. 24 4.4 WORK POSITIONING................................................................................................................ 25 4.5 WORKING.................................................................................................................................. 26 4.6 RIGGING.................................................................................................................................... 27 4.7 ASCENDING/DESCENDING RAPIDLY..................................................................................... 28 4.8 SUMMARY................................................................................................................................. 28 5 ROPE PROTECTORS........................................................................................................29 5.1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................ 29 5.2 METHODS ................................................................................................................................. 29 5.3 UNPROTECTED........................................................................................................................ 29 5.4 ROLL MODULE (PETZL) ........................................................................................................... 30 5.5 CANVAS SHEATH..................................................................................................................... 30 5.6 POLYVINYL CHLORIDE (PVC) COATED FABRIC SHEATH.................................................... 30 5.7 COMPRESSED AIR FLEXIBLE HOSE PIPE............................................................................. 31 5.8 CARPET..................................................................................................................................... 31 5.9 PVC COATED FABRIC SCRAPS (SIMULATED ROPE BAG)................................................... 32 5.10 ROPE PROTECTORS - SUMMARY ........................................................................................ 32 6 ROPE ADJUSTMENT DEVICES ........................................................................................35 6.1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................ 35 6.2 TYPE A – BACK-UP DEVICES.................................................................................................. 35 6.3 TYPE B - ASCENDER DEVICES............................................................................................... 54 6.4 TYPE C - DESCENDER DEVICES............................................................................................ 63 7 ATTACHMENT LANYARDS (COW’S TAILS)....................................................................79 7.1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................ 79 7.2 METHODS ................................................................................................................................. 79 7.3 KNOTTED ROPE COW’S TAILS ............................................................................................... 80 7.4 PETZL “JANE” SEWN TERMINATION COW’S TAILS .............................................................. 81 7.5 KNOTTED TAPE COW’S TAILS................................................................................................ 81 7.6 COW’S TAILS - SUMMARY....................................................................................................... 81 8 LANYARDS (FALL ARREST) ............................................................................................83 8.1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................ 83 8.2 BEAL “BEP” ENERGY ABSORBER .......................................................................................... 84 8.3 BH SALA.................................................................................................................................... 85 8.4 CHARLET MOSER .................................................................................................................... 85 8.5 PAMMENTER & PETRIE (P & P) .............................................................................................
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