Falls continue to be the leading cause of death in construction-related accidents*, which makes properly wearing and using full body harnesses critically important to worker safety when working at height.

ANSI/ASSP Z359.11-2021 standard establishes requirements for full body harnesses including performance, design, marking, qualification, instruction, training, test methods, inspection use, maintenance, and removal from service of full body harnesses. The standard was recently updated to include new requirements such as:

• A modified, headfirst, dynamic test procedure
• New stretch-out requirements for frontal connections
• Alternative fall arrest indicator testing and new label requirements
• Allowance for harnesses with integrated energy absorbers
• Changes to labeling requirements

MSA safety expert Rob Willis recently joined the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) “The Case for Safety” podcast to explain more about these recent ANSI standard updates and key things to consider when selecting and wearing a full body harness.

Listen to the full podcast here: https://www.assp.org/news-and-articles/what-the-updated-z359.11-standard-means-for-full-body-harnesses