THE ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES OF USE OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) shall only be used by a person trained and competent in its
safe use.
• PPE must not be used by a person with medical condition that could affect the safety of the equipment
user in normal and emergency use.
• A rescue plan shall be in place to deal with any emergencies that could arise during the work.
• It is forbidden to make any alterations or additions to the equipment without the manufacturer's prior
written consent.
• Any repair shall only be carried out by equipment manufacturer or his certified representative.
• PPE shall not be used outside its limitations, or for any purpose other than that for which it is intended.
• PPE should be a personal issue item.
• Before use ensure about the compatibility of items equipment assembled into fall arrest system.
Periodically check connecting and adjusting of the equipment components to avoid accidental loosening
or disconnecting of the components.
• It is forbidden to use combinations of items of equipment in which the safe function of any one item is
affected by or interferes with the safe function of another.
• It is essential for the safety of the user that if the product is re-sold outside the original country of
destination the reseller shall provide instruction for use, for maintenance, for periodic examination and
for repair in language of the country in which the product is to be sold.
• A full body harness (conforming EN 361) is the only acceptable body holding device that can be used
in a fall arrest system.
• On full body harness use only attaching points marked with big letter "A" to attach a fall arrest system.
• It is obligatory to verify the free space required beneath the user at the workplace before each occasion
of use the fall arrest system, so that, in the case of a fall, there will be no collision with the ground or
other obstacle in the fall path. The required value of the free space should be taken from instruction
manual of used equipment.
• There are many hazards that may affect the performance of the equipment and corresponding safety
precautions that have to be observed during equipment utilization, especially:
• trailing or looping of lanyards or lifelines over sharp edges,
• any defects like cutting, abrasion, corrosion,
• climatic exposure,
• pendulum falls,
• extremes of temperature,
• chemical reagents,
• electrical conductivity.
INSPECTION
Before each use of personal protective equipment, it is obligatory to carry out a pre-use check of the
equipment, to ensure that it is in a serviceable condition and operates correctly before it is used.
During pre-use check it is necessary to inspect all elements of the equipment in respect of any dama-
ges, excessive wear, corrosion, abrasion, cutting or incorrect acting, especially take into consideration:
• in full body harnesses and belts - buckles, adjusting elements, attaching points, webbings, seams,
loops;
• in energy absorbers - attaching loops, webbing, seams, casing, connectors;
• in textile lanyards or lifelines or guidelines - rope, loops, thimbles, connectors, adjusting elements,
splices;
• in steel lanyards or lifelines or guidelines - cable, wires, clips, ferrules, loops, thimbles, connectors,
adjusting elements;
• in retractable fall arresters - cable or webbing, retractor and brake proper acting, casing, energy
absorber, connector;
• in guided type fall arresters - body of the fall arrester, sliding function, locking gear acting, rivets and
screws, connector, energy absorber;
• in connectors - main body, rivets, gate, locking gear acting;
• in tripods - legs, safety pins, eye bolts, feet, chain, connecting elements.
EN