Loading ...Fall Protection Dictionary: Harness
As a service to you, we here at the Snug Harness break down some of the useful terminology and make fun of some of the stupid buzzwords that sales guys use to show you how “great” their fall protection is. So, without any further ado, let’s pull out another word from the Snug Harness Word Sack:
Harness:
Definition: A Harness is a series of webbings that are used to secure a worker to a rope and then an anchor point in order to prevent a fall.
Word Origin: There is something about the word “harness” that just seems tight and restrictive. Snug, if you will. I believe the word “harness” was chosen because of its ability to control and handle the awesome power of fall protection. The word “harness” alludes to the reigning in of something that is about to spiral out of control, much like your drunk Uncle Larry lying on the bed of coats at your next family gathering. The word might also come from a Dutch word meaning, “A device that raises and lowers the warp threads on a loom.” Who knows?
Analysis: When most people think about fall protection, they immediately think of harnesses (and falling). A harness is merely a set of straps that a worker dons before ascending more than six feet above the next available level. Six feet is the standard established by OSHA at which a fatal fall could occur. Although, from what I understand, a five-foot fall could do a considerable amount of damage to what society has labeled, “little people.” Every harness contains a D-ring that is placed roughly in the middle of the back. A lanyard is then attached to the D-ring. The other end of the lanyard is attached to some sort of anchor point, and then the man jumps into the tub. What is this, the game Mousetrap?
There are a couple re-occurring problems with the harness. One is that no one is absolutely positive how a harness goes on. They get tangled and you end up looking like a horse’s ass, but that might be the result of the hot pink sweat pants you wore to work.
However, the tangled mess problem is something that a lot of fall protection companies are working on right now. Another problem associated with the harness, is the stigma of wearing one. For some reason various construction workers feel that wearing a harness somehow makes them weak, as if you’re stripping away their super powers. Everyone pretty much knows that humans can’t fly right? They must think that a “real man” should be able to stay balanced. Have you ever seen a construction worker get dressed? If they put on a pair of pants in the morning and the only thing broken in their bedroom is a lamp, that’s a good day. An additional complaint is comfort. Companies are attacking this hard, but not as hard as the harness seems to be attacking various nether regions of the body. In order to fix this they’re practically stapling posturepedic mattresses to the worker. In short, they can become a bit cumbersome.
As with some of the previous terms, a harness is pretty generic term, and the amount of variations on this piece of equipment are endless. We’ll of course delve into the construction, universal, and every other molded harness on the market at a later date.
Disclaimer: This post in no way implies that you should work thirty feet off the ground with a mattress attached to you, because if a big gust of wind comes, you’re pretty much screwed.
Similar Terms:
Your Royal Harness
Arial Armor
The Sissy Straps (only kidding!)
Word Associations:
Harness: I don’t know how you can claim a sea monster that lives half way around the world as yours.
Harness: Yeah, we put my grandma in one of those when she got sick, so she wouldn’t run away… shuffle away.
Harness: I think my wife wears one of those. I believe she has a class B harness.
So, there you have it. This word is used throughout the business, and is a great staple of fall protection. Even though we’ve got miles to go, I hope you appreciated our dissection of the Harness, and as always we’ll be back again next week with another word. Thanks for stopping by the Snug Harness, where it’s always hot and sweaty. You never know what you might find in the Snug Harness’ world of construction and fall protection.
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