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Fall Arrest Systems Offer Greater Flexibility When Working at Height


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by Scott Owyen - Director of Training On Apr 4, 2019, 03:00 AM

Fall Arrest Systems Offer Greater Flexibility When Working at Height

From new construction to maintenance and repair work, articulated and telescopic booms put people where they need to be to get the job done. While most of that work can be accomplished from the boom’s platform, there are times when a worker may need to perform tasks on structures adjacent to the platform. Those times call for the Genie® Fall Arrest Bar, a personal fall protection equipment (PFPE) solution that allows operators to use their Genie boom as a reliable external anchor point.

Extended Productivity

While booms are designed to lift people to a position where they can carry out work from the platform and then return to the starting level, there are situations that may require workers to exit the platform at height to do a job. Since Genie booms can be used as part of a fall arrest system, workers can to attach their PFPE lanyard to an engineered anchor point within the platform. However, due to the limited length of the lanyard, workers are restricted in their working area, which can limit productivity.

The Genie Fall Arrest Bar extends the normal working area because it consists of a smooth, sliding horizontal track design that allows the operator to tie off and move freely outside the platform using a single 6 ft shock-absorbing lanyard.

Easy to Attach

The team at Genie designed the Fall Arrest Bar to quickly and easily attach to the platform. The yellow, identifiable bar, can be added or removed from a work platform in around 15 minutes and is approved for use on ANSI- and CSA-compliant Genie booms, including 40-ft and higher telescopic booms (except the Genie S-125 model), as well as 45-ft or higher articulating booms.

Safety Tested

Fall Arrest Systems Offer Greater Flexibility When Working at HeightThe Genie Fall Arrest Bar complies with ANSI A92.5-2006 (and, moving forward with the new ANSI A92.20-2018) and CSA B354.4-02 standards for self-propelled booms. And, it is the first device of its kind to receive a PFPE certification from notified body SATRA (Notified Body for Personal Protective Equipment EU Regulations 2016/425) after conducting stringent testing. In addition, Genie lifts are considered a reliable external anchorage point, having passed dynamic fall arrest anchorage testing in line with ISO 16388 (internal type approval test withstanding the force of a free-falling 300 lb test mass).

Stay Mindful

The operator platform on aerial lifts is the best place to be while working at height. Before stepping out of the platform, workers should assess the risks involved with a task and only leave the platform if it’s deemed the safest and most effective way of accessing a location. For applications like working on the wing of a plane, servicing a ride at an amusement park or inspecting a roof, the Genie Fall Arrest Bar is the ideal accessory for productive working.

In order to accommodate the need and assist the operator in performing the work safely, Genie has developed a guidance and approval document that outlines the steps required to exit an elevated platform. The document is available upon request through Genie. If you have questions regarding fall protection requirements for your aerial work platforms, we encourage you to contact the Product Standards and Compliance Group at 800-536-1800.

The number one priority on any aerial jobsite should be to promote a safe workplace for both the operators and the equipment. To do this, it is important for everyone onsite to follow safety rules and regulations set forth by industry standards (ANSI, CSA, EU), as well as outlined in the equipment manufacturers’ guidelines. To prevent incidents and mishaps from happening on an aerial jobsite, it is important that everyone who comes in contact with articulated and telescopic booms are knowledgeable regarding these standards.

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