Fall Protection Systems

Fall protection systems are technical facilities to which one or more persons can secure themselves using personal protective equipment against falls from a height. The goal is to prevent falls altogether or to arrest the fall of the user.

The most common systems are horizontal stainless steel cable-based safety systems according to EN 795 Type C or rail systems made of aluminum or stainless steel. These systems are usually approved for multiple users simultaneously. Rail systems provide convenient protection over long distances using an appropriate runner, while cable systems can be designed as traversable or non-traversable. read more

In traversable systems, the user is connected to the cable by means of a glider, which passes each intermediate safety point. In non-traversable systems, each intermediate safety point needs to be accessed by reattachment, which is more labor-intensive. This requires a second connecting device to ensure continuous safety during reattachment. Overhead-mounted systems offer the advantage of very low fall height. In combination with a fall-arrest device that activates immediately, the fall height is only a few centimeters. In contrast, a fall over an edge of a roof or a ground-mounted system naturally involves much greater fall heights until the system activates.

The installation and maintenance of such fall protection systems must be carried out exclusively by a manufacturer-certified specialist company, as the correct anchorage in the substrate plays a decisive role in load-bearing capacity and the proper functioning of these systems. This also requires detailed installation documentation, and furthermore, these systems must undergo an annual inspection by a qualified person.