Article and photos by Gregory Havel
Many modern buildings have permanent anchorages installed on their roofs to meet the fall protection standards for employees as stated in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) 29 CFR 1926.500-503 and Appendices.
These permanent fall protection anchorages may be welded or bolted to the structural steel or bar joists at locations selected by the structural engineer (photo 1) or fastened through the steel roof deck with screws or bolts (photo 2), using the number and size of fasteners required in the design by the structural engineer. Their strength depends on whether they were installed as designed and whether they have been properly maintained.
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The issue is further complicated by differences in the rating systems used in the OSHA standards and in NFPA 1983—2006 Life Safety Rope and Equipment for Emergency Services. NFPA Class I and Class II harnesses (NFPA 1983—2006 6.3.1.1 and 6.3.1.2), rated for a maximum of one 300-pound person, are not compliant with the OSHA standards for fall protection, since they are not full-body harnesses. The NFPA Class III harness (NFPA 1983—2006 6.3.1.3) is a full-body harness and would be acceptable under the OSHA standards if the second person was also equipped with his/her own full-body harness.
Materials-handling slings are sometimes used as part of the rigging for high-angle or technical rescue. Each chain, webbing, or wire rope (photo 3) sling has a permanently attached tag (OSHA 29 CFR 1926.251) that shows its safe load capacity in different configurations for materials handling. According to 29 CFR 1926.550 (g)(4)(iv)(C), which discusses rigging for the support of personnel and work platforms and which requires greater safety factors than for materials handling: “Wire rope, shackles, rings, master links, and other rigging hardware must be capable of supporting, without failure, at least five times the maximum intended load applied or transmitted to that component.” This suggests that the rating of a sling for material handling should be divided by five if it is to be used as part of the rigging for technical rescue.
Since the decision to use fall-protection anchorages for technical rescue is complex, we must develop standards-based operational policies, procedures, and generic preincident plans to guide us in their use; and we must train and respond to incidents according to our procedures and plans.
Gregory Havel is a member of the Burlington (WI) Fire Department; a retired deputy chief and training officer; and a 30-year veteran of the fire service. He is a Wisconsin-certified fire instructor II and fire officer II, an adjunct instructor in fire service programs at Gateway Technical College, and safety director for Scherrer Construction Co., Inc. Havel has a bachelor’s degree from St. Norbert College; has more than 30 years of experience in facilities management and building construction; and has presented classes at FDIC.
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Subjects: Building construction for firefighters