Fall Protection Systems

The choice between fall arrest and travel restraint governs everything else. With travel restraint, the worker physically cannot reach the edge: forces stay low and the anchor is easy to size. With fall arrest, the energy of a real fall has to be absorbed, and fall-clearance analysis becomes the centrepiece: length of the sub-system, elongation of the energy absorber, sag of the line and the clearance actually available below the worker. A flexible line is economical but deflects under load, which adds to the fall distance; a rigid line costs more and barely moves. In both cases, most of the work is about the anchor and the structure that receives it.