Safety harness and fall protection equipment inspections — intervals, competent person, markings and approval for use

Short answer: fall protection equipment undergoes three types of checks. The pre-use check is done by the user according to the manufacturer's instructions. The periodic examination is done by a competent person at least every 12 months — as required by EN 365 and repeated in manufacturers' instructions. A special examination follows an arrested fall, contact with chemicals, heat or a sharp edge, and whenever the user doubts the equipment's condition.

Twelve months is a maximum, not a target. The manufacturer may require more frequent examinations under intensive use, in chemically aggressive or dusty environments, near welding or on construction sites. Retractable type fall arresters to EN 360 often additionally require servicing by the manufacturer or an authorised service centre — the instructions state whether an in-house competent person may limit the check to a visual examination or the device must be sent away.

Many searches ask for a harness “certificate”. In practice this means two different things: the manufacturer's evidence of conformity (CE marking with the notified body number and the EU declaration of conformity) and the record of a passed periodic examination on the equipment card.

Short answer: only a competent person may carry out the periodic examination — under EN 365, a person aware of the current periodic examination requirements and the manufacturer's recommendations and instructions applicable to the product. In practice this is someone trained by the manufacturer or its authorised representative to examine that brand's equipment, with documented training and, for many manufacturers, a periodically renewed authorisation.

Polish law provides no state licence for harness inspections, so the employer is responsible for ensuring the examiner holds the qualifications the manufacturer requires. It may be a trained employee or an external service provider. Training for one brand does not always cover another manufacturer's equipment — check the instructions and record it in the qualifications register.

The user must not be confused with the competent person. A worker must check the harness before putting it on and report damage, but this visual check does not replace the periodic examination and cannot be recorded on the equipment card as the annual inspection.

Short answer: a harness label shows at least the CE mark with the four-digit number of the notified body supervising production (for example 1437 is Poland's Central Institute for Labour Protection — National Research Institute), the standard number, the manufacturer's name or mark, model, size, serial or batch number, year and month of manufacture and a pictogram requiring users to read the instructions. Some manufacturers also state the maximum service life or its end date.

Attachment points are marked with the letter A. A single A at the dorsal or sternal buckle marks a point to which a fall arrest system may be connected on its own. A/2 on two chest loops means these points work only together — they must be joined with a connector; connecting the system to one A/2 loop is an error. Harnesses meeting EN 361 have at least one A point.

The side rings on the waist belt are work positioning points under EN 358. They hold the worker in position, for example on a pole or against a wall, and must never be used for fall arrest. Other system components carry similar markings: lanyards (EN 354), energy absorbers (EN 355), retractable type fall arresters (EN 360), guided type fall arresters on a flexible line (EN 353-2), connectors (EN 362) and anchor devices (EN 795).

Short answer: the law sets no single harness expiry. The maximum service life is set by the manufacturer in the instructions — for textile products often several to over ten years from manufacture or first use, provided periodic examinations are passed. After that period the equipment is withdrawn even if it looks undamaged, because webbing and thread materials age under light, moisture and temperature.

Regardless of age, equipment is withdrawn immediately when it has arrested a fall or the fall indicator has been activated (torn indicator stitching or deployed absorber), webbing is cut, frayed, burnt by welding sparks or discoloured by chemicals, stitching is loose, buckles and connectors are cracked, deformed or corroded, gates do not close automatically, the label is illegible or the equipment's history cannot be established. A harness that arrested a fall is not returned to use without a written decision of a competent person, and most manufacturers require unconditional withdrawal.

A withdrawn item must be physically separated from serviceable stock and permanently marked — ideally by cutting the webbing — and the withdrawal recorded on the equipment card. Harnesses simply put aside without marking regularly return to use at the next urgent job.

Short answer: before issuing new equipment, check that the product carries the CE mark with the notified body number, an EU declaration of conformity or the address where it is available, and instructions in the user's language — as required by Regulation (EU) 2016/425. Then open an equipment record card and record the date of first use, from which the manufacturer usually counts the service life.

The equipment card required by EN 365 and manufacturers' instructions contains: name and model, manufacturer, serial number, year of manufacture, purchase and first-use dates, user or storage location, the history of periodic examinations with result and competent person's signature, repairs and the next examination date. The second pillar of approval is matching the system to the task: harness, lanyard or retractable, connector and anchor point must be compatible, and enough clearance must remain below the workstation for the fall to be arrested before striking the ground.

The last element is people. The worker should be instructed on the specific equipment, and the site should have a rescue plan for a worker suspended in a harness. Prolonged suspension can cause suspension trauma, so the method of rapid rescue is set before work starts, not at the moment of an accident.

In the PPE register and issuing module each harness, lanyard or retractable has its own digital equipment card with serial number, manufacture and first-use dates, user and periodic examination history. VIMS EHS calculates the next examination date and the maximum service life and notifies the responsible person before the deadline.

A QR code or NFC tag from the QR/NFC access points module can be attached to the item. The storekeeper scans the equipment at issue and immediately sees whether the examination is valid; the worker can check the card before putting the harness on and report damage from a phone. Competent person results go to the inspection register, and equipment that fails is marked as withdrawn. The deadline overview is ready to show a labour inspector or an ISO 45001 auditor.

The software organises deadlines and documentation but does not replace the competent person. The decision to approve or withdraw equipment is made by a person with the qualifications the manufacturer requires, based on a physical examination of the item.

A fall arrest system combines a harness, a connecting and energy-absorbing subsystem (lanyard with absorber, retractable or guided type fall arrester) and an anchor device; it stops a falling person and limits the force on the body. A work positioning system holds the worker at the workplace using an EN 358 belt, and a restraint system prevents the worker from reaching an edge from which a fall is possible.

A fall indicator — indicator stitching, a tear-off strip or a moving element of a retractable — permanently shows that the equipment has arrested a fall. Clearance is the minimum distance from the anchor point to the ground needed to arrest a fall safely; for absorber lanyards it is often several metres, so retractables are used at low heights.

An anchor device to EN 795 is the element the system connects to — a fixed point, a horizontal lifeline or a tripod. A competent person is trained to examine a given manufacturer's equipment, and an equipment card documents the item's history. More technical safety terms are in the EHS glossary, and ladder inspection rules in the ladder inspection guide.