Fall Protection - Horizontal Lifeline Beam w/ Trolley Anchorage

[HH79]

I have read a previous fall protection thread discussing the design of a horizontal lifeline beam. The general response was to design for the 5,000 pound load according to OSHA, which I agree.

Our situation is similar, with the following difference. If we are indicating on our drawings that signage must be posted requiring the use of a lanyard/fall protection system that limits the arresting force to 900 pounds, then can our design load be reduced? Part of the question is obviously whether we design to what we say should happen on our drawings or design to what would likely happen (ie employees using improper lanyards that do not meet the arrest force reduction requirements). We in this case do believe that workers will use the fall protection system properly, as our client is very strict when it comes to safety.

My interpretation of the OSHA verbage is that the load can be reduced from the 5000 pound per person fall load. That is what I am also being told. I would like to reassure my own curiosity that this is the case. If anyone has any experience I would appreciate your thoughts on and answers to:

1) What is the appropriate design load per person given the reduced arresting force requirement?
2) Do you know of any reference material that would help to understand the specific design load requirements?
3) ANSI/ASSE 2359 fall protection code: Is it a good investment at $300?

Thanks

 

[kslee1000]

Question below serves as a reminder.

At stretched position (a person has fell), the angle in between the rope and the original profile is usually quite small, what is the tension in the rope due to the 900 lbs vertical load? I guess you have checked on it already.

Also, the harness & lanyard suppliers/manufacturers would void the warrenties for a system designed with capacity lower than the supplies' strength. Please check.

Another concern, if your design load is less than explicitly stated by OSHA, you may require the owner to post load limits to eliminate the ambiguity, which may leads to unfortunate event. For such case, a note on the drawing will not do any good for everyone involved.

 

[gvcstructural]

Without quoting OSHA standards, I do know for instance that typically fall protection components are designed for a breaking strength of 5,000 lbs.and 100% proof tested to 3,600 lbf but limit the actual "fall arresting" force to 1800 lbf.