Of the more than 500 fatal workplace accidents that occurred in 2017, over 30% were caused by falls from height.

The risk of falling from height is particularly high during construction site activities and maintenance work, whether on civil buildings or, especially, on industrial machinery. This naturally creates the need to protect company personnel through the use of fall protection systems specifically designed to prevent and mitigate the risk of falling when working at certain heights.

For the industrial sector in particular, it is important to design fall protection systems that take into account the conditions governing the choice of devices that integrate well and are optimal for solving the issues present.

The problems that are frequently encountered in industrial environments include:

• The **limited available space** for a fall, which restricts the so-called “fall clearance” needed to safely stop the worker;
• The presence of **equipment** that limits the possibility of securing devices;
• The presence of **dust** and/or particles that accumulate on the devices, compromising their use and creating a potentially explosive environment (**ATEX**);
• The difficulty of reaching the operator in case of **emergency** and carrying out the related rescue operations.

To address these issues, there are various fall protection solutions that can be adopted depending on the needs.

First and foremost, it is essential to rely on rigid rail systems, which minimize the fall clearance (if properly paired with lanyards), ensuring that safety is not compromised by the limited spaces caused by machinery, obstacles, or materials below the operator.

If these rails are designed with appropriate geometries, it is possible to minimize the accumulation of dirt and dust, so that the trolley itself removes unwanted particles during movement, thanks to sliding guides angled to ensure both stability and safety.

Furthermore, in environments with potentially explosive atmospheres (ATEX), the presence and accumulation of dust could exacerbate this risk.

Therefore, although it is preferable to prevent this situation, it is advisable, where necessary, to equip the system with measures that prevent the accumulation of static charges or sparks from the sliding of metal parts (not always visible to the naked eye), which could ignite potentially explosive atmospheres.

A third important feature is the possibility of equipping the system with two trolleys that can move independently of each other. This not only facilitates use (allowing two operators to work without interfering with each other) but also enables proper rescue sequences in case of emergency, thanks to a dedicated sliding guide that is independent from that of the injured operator.

Finally, it is essential to have appropriate structures capable of supporting the devices. As mentioned, in industrial plants there are often numerous technical installations that make it difficult to anchor devices, especially if the fixing points are limited. Therefore, it is crucial to have a rail with a section that guarantees the required standard load-bearing capacity while also facilitating installation thanks to its self-supporting properties, allowing spans of at least 6–8 meters to make it versatile without compromising ergonomics during transport and installation.

Structures like the one described are used in various applications, specifically in loading and unloading bays, where the operator must climb on top of a truck to connect systems, in facade or green wall maintenance, and during machinery maintenance, where the height from the ground is relatively low but still exposes operators to the risk of falling from height, etc.