If your job requires you to work from height, then it’s likely that you’ll need to wear a safety harness. Harnesses aren’t only key for ensuring your safety when working at great heights and reducing your chances of falling, but they’re also designed to protect your body from damage in the event that you do fall and your fall is arrested.
In this blog, we’ll discuss how to put on a safety harness in our easy-to-follow steps, as well as the checks you can make afterwards to ensure your harness is fitting as it should be.
How to Put on Your Harness
There are various types of safety harnesses available for different applications, but for the purposes of this blog we’ll be focusing on a standard full body harness.
Lift your harness up by the dorsal D-ring - this is the D-ring located at the back of the harness.
Slip each shoulder strap over your corresponding shoulder, allowing the dorsal D-ring to lie between your shoulder blades.
Connect the chest strap.
Pull one of the leg straps between your legs and connect to the opposite end around the corresponding leg using the special buckle. Repeat this with the opposite leg.
Pass any excess straps through the provided strap retainer loops to ensure these aren’t hanging anywhere.
Reach over your shoulder to make sure that the dorsal D-ring is easily accessible to your hand - you can adjust the straps as needed to ensure this.
Checking Your Harness Fits Properly
Now that you’ve got your harness on, it’s time to check that it fits properly. When wearing a full body harness, you want it to be fitted relatively snug across your body so that there is no slack in any of the straps, however you don’t want it to be so tight that it limits your movement.
There are a number of ways you can check this. The first is to simply stand upright with your muscles relaxed; if you feel any slack anywhere around your arms, chest or legs then tighten the straps in the necessary area(s). Next, move around - the harness shouldn’t hinder your range of motion, so don’t be hesitant to loosen any straps that feel too tight and cut into your body when you move.
If you’ve done these things and are still unsure about whether you’ve got your harness adjusted to the perfect fit, then take your four fingers on both hands and slide them underneath the leg straps. They should fit snugly between your leg and the strap, but you should not have to force them to fit beneath the strap.
High Quality Harnesses
If you’re in need of a high quality safety harness for yourself or your employees, then look no further than Lifting & Safety Gear Ltd. we supply a range of harnesses, from full body harnesses to work positioning belts, to give you peace of mind when working at height.
Get in touch with us today to learn more about our products.