The recipe for the perfect installation

What are the tools that make it possible to guarantee the quality of the installation of a fall arrest system – life line? Let’s try to answer this important question through a set of “ingredients” which, if dosed and mixed correctly, can represent the recipe for a state of the art installation.

Ingredients

• Planning
  Carefully planning all the details, ranging from initial design to installation methods and timing, is the key to successfully installing a fall arrest system. Calculating the methods of access, installation, times, product handling methods, any site interference are all key elements which, if foreseen in advance, can determine the success, according to the costs and expected times, of the installation of the system.
• Staff training and updating
  The figure of the installer is, for obvious reasons, extremely important to guarantee the correct installation of a fall arrest system in accordance with the regulations in force.
  For this reason, the staff must be suitably trained, not only with regard to the correct practices for working at height safely, but must also know the products that are being installed and the relative methods of installation and verification.
• Products
  The quality of the assembly of a system does not depend exclusively on how it is installed, but also on the quality of the products that compose it. The devices used must be designed in compliance with the strictest standards in force, as well as being tested and certified through Notified Bodies, and must be clearly identifiable through appropriate marking and / or signs.
• On-site testing
  Verifying the goodness of the fastening is extremely important to ensure the quality of the system installation. It is therefore advisable to foresee / evaluate the need for on-site tests to be carried out simultaneously with the installation operations, using test methods and tools suitable for the products to be installed and the type of support structure on which the fall arrest system is anchored.
• Documentation
  An integral part of the fall arrest system is all the documentation supplied with the system. This must be kept with care by the owner of the system throughout the life span.