614 Personal Protective and Lifesaving Equipment

The Anchorage

An anchorage for a personal fall-arrest system must support at least 5,000 pounds or be designed and installed under the supervision of a qualified person as part of a complete personal fall protection system that maintains a safety factor of at least two.

Anchorage strength is critical but is not the only factor to consider. Also important:

• Anchorage connector: Unless an existing anchorage has been designed to accept a lanyard or lifeline, you will need to attach an anchorage connector - a device that provides a secure attachment point. Examples include tie-off adapters, hook anchors, beam connectors, and beam trolleys. Be sure that the connector is compatible with the lanyard or lifeline and appropriate for the work task.
• Attachment point: The anchorage can be used only as the attachment point for a personal fall-arrest system; it can't be used to support or suspend platforms.
• Location: The anchorage should be located directly above the worker, if possible, to reduce the chance of a swing fall.
• Fall distance: Because a personal fall-arrest system does not prevent a fall, the anchorage must be high enough above a worker to ensure that the arrest system, and not the next lower level, stops the fall. Consider free-fall distance, lanyard length, shock-absorber elongation, and body-harness stretch in determining the height of an anchorage. Free-fall distance is the distance a worker falls before a personal fall-arrest system begins to stop the fall.
• Connectors: An anchorage, a lanyard, and a body harness are not useful until they are linked together. Connectors do the linking; they make the anchorage, the lanyard, and the harness a complete system. Connectors include carabiners, snap hooks, and D-rings.

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