When folks begin learning about fall safety, they gravitate toward the fall protection systems, best practices, and PPE designed to prevent or arrest falls. All of this is a good start—but learning about the dangers present after a fall is arrested is of equal or greater importance.
When a tied-off worker slips and plunges toward ground level, a properly designed and installed fall arrest system deploys and absorbs the forces associated with the fall, preventing contact with structure below—and/or ground level. In this case, the worker is suspended somewhere between the work surface and ground level. The fall arrest system has done its job, and yet, without a prompt rescue, the same system that arrests a fall can threaten an employee’s life.
