The ANSI (American National Standards Institute) approved two American Society of Safety Engineers’ (ASSE) fall protection standards:
- ANSI/ASSE Z359.14-2012 Safety Requirements for Self-Retracting Devices for Personal Fall Arrest and Rescue Systems; and
- ANSI/ASSE Z359.4-2012 Safety Requirements for Assisted-Rescue and Self-Rescue Systems, Subsystems and Components. (Revised)
ANSI/ASSE Z359.14-2012 Safety Requirements for Self-Retracting Devices for Personal Fall Arrest and Rescue Systems
This standard states the requirements for performance, design, qualification testing, markings, and instructions, inspections, maintenance and storage and removal from service of self-retracting devices. This includes self-retracting lanyards, self-retracting lanyards with integral rescue capability, and self-retracting lanyards with leading-edge capability (SRL-LE’s).
It also establishes requirements for self-retracting devices intended for use in personal fall arrest or rescue systems for authorized persons within the capacity range of 130 to 310 pounds (59 to 141 kg).
ANSI/ASSE Z359.4-2012 Safety Requirements for Assisted-Rescue and Self-Rescue Systems, Subsystems and Components. (Revised)
This standard’s focus is to emphasize the importance of preplanning of each potential scenario including the rescue needs, equipment, training, and periodic evaluation of training effectiveness. It also states the requirements of performance, design, marking, qualification, instruction, training, use, maintenance, and removal from service of connectors, harnesses, lanyards, anchorage connectors, winches/hoists, descent control devices, rope tackle blocks, and self-retracting lanyards with integral rescue capability.
Both standards are part of the Z.359 Fall Protection Code.
To learn more about Fall Protecting training classes, go to https://safetylinks.net/index.php/training/construction-safety-courses