personal harnesses on site

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downash

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hi lads,
im going back on site work after a long time on street work.
whats the score with personal harnesses?,ive got an in date one,but ive heard they have to be tagged somehow,if so by whom?.
 
Wearing personal harnesses is against the law. It shouldn't happen but it does. Your employer has legal requirement to provide ALL ppe required fir a specific task free of charge, also under the ppe & PUWER regs they have a responsibility to make sure this ppe is kept in a safe & useable condition, you also have a legal duty to maintain any ppe in good condition under these regs.
Your harness should be inspected & a record kept of these by a trained & competent person. Most companies usually do this monthly.
If you are being made to wear your own I would set up an inspection diary/record & do monthly checks, but the best advice is don't do it, if owt happens you're in no mans land mate. Get your employer to supply you one.
 
Ive been doing a bit of weekend work for a Firm the past few weeks and ive been using my own 'Personal' Harness.

Firms should provide you with your PPE - all of it.
But many dont.


Its a very grey area.
Me? I like using my own stuff, as it fits/suits/looks/does exactly what i want it to do and is exactly how i like it. :)

But im more then likely gonna get slaughtered by the HSE should i have an accident. Its the risk you take i suppose.
 
As the other lad have said dont risk it, Even if your employer states he will get your harness inspected if this is the case the harness inspector should insist that you are issued with a inspected and recorded harness that has a paper trail from purchase , 1st in use date to full inspections to the presant date.this also applies to lanyards
 
I'm obviously very wrong but if it's certified and in date what's the problem? Yes, it should be added to the company register and inspected before use but surely if the guy likes and wants to wear it there could be no repercussions from that.
 
Its down to when its manufacterd, purchased and issued if none of these can be proved and its not recorded then its not fit for use, also the inspector would be unawear if the harness has been involved in a fall etc . as most harness have a usable life of 5 years from manufacture, but as we scaffs abuse them more than any other trade in my experiance they last approx 8 months
 
Yes that's true but if all the documentation is present? I had one fairly recently who reckoned he preferred it and had all the correct manufacturers dates blah blah blah so I didn't have a problem with it once it was inspected. We have changed it now but for a different reason.
 
Karlj711 said:
Wearing personal harnesses is against the law. It shouldn't happen but it does. Your employer has legal requirement to provide ALL ppe required fir a specific task free of charge, also under the ppe & PUWER regs they have a responsibility to make sure this ppe is kept in a safe & useable condition, you also have a legal duty to maintain any ppe in good condition under these regs.
Your harness should be inspected & a record kept of these by a trained & competent person. Most companies usually do this monthly.
If you are being made to wear your own I would set up an inspection diary/record & do monthly checks, but the best advice is don't do it, if owt happens you're in no mans land mate. Get your employer to supply you one.
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you are so wrong there karl,
if you want to wear your own harness you can as long as you have the relevant paperwork it is fine, (employers supply boots hats gloves etc etc but some lads insist on wearing their own. (jallette boots, v guard hats, leather gloves do i need to go on, a harness is no different except for inspection records)
your spot on with everything else,;)
 
Good, thought I was getting a bit rusty.:worried:
 
That's racist, where is the fekin moderators when you need them.:amazed:
 
you are assuming that the guy is an employee, yes its correct that employers have a legal duty to provide all necessary ppe required to work in the correct way that a method statement would contain - however it is everyones personall reponsilbility to make sure he works and keeps homself safe and those around him, if a harness has been issued by an employer than yes all relevent docts/paperwork trail should be kept up to date.
if however its a self employed guy/agency guy/temp worker ,than that responsibility lays with themsevles,
your harness should be within the manufactures date, most are 3 yrs but miller was 5 but i beleave are changing to 10 and self certification on inertias & blocks.
your are responible for inspecting your own harnesseverytime you put it on,and it should be the periodically inspected by a competant person, if its your own harness thats you- personally any one coming to me will be issued and sighn for a company one, if they still choose to use there own i will allow it after i've inspected it and put it on the system
 
You cant get a harness certed if it's older than five years around here,which means brand new never used,but older than five years,in the bin,if you want to use your own,provided its in date get it certed,speedy hire are ok for this,keep a monthly record(though i think 3 months is the limit,but may well be wrong)and i use micro tags,from scafftag for attaching to the harness,these are very good and fairly cheap;)
 
Jak dan nowt rong wid with gingers ours lass is ginger, thing with gingers is there ither rotten or stunnign and myn stunning that said if it isnt a doubble lanyard harness with rescue clip on front forget it they wont have it must be doubble lanyard and with a rescue clip on the front
 
jakdan said:
you are so wrong there karl,
if you want to wear your own harness you can as long as you have the relevant paperwork it is fine, (employers supply boots hats gloves etc etc but some lads insist on wearing their own. (jallette boots, v guard hats, leather gloves do i need to go on, a harness is no different except for inspection records)
your spot on with everything else,;)
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I hear what you're saying mate, but employers are legally bound to supply inspect & maintain all operatives PPE. Even subbies. I fully understand we all wear our own gear (I always wear my own boots) BUT unless they are approved by the company they will not be covered by their insurance. It's a vicious circle, firstly you need specific training to be a harness inspector, bollix I know, but there it is. So if you're wearing & inspecting your your own the first thing the safety police will want to see is your ticket for this along with the companies insurerers.
Speaking as an employee, wearing your own gear, comfortable as it is, leaves you in a very murky area & facing an uphill battle with regards to compensation should it fail.
Speaking as an employer, allowing your employees to wear there own PPE leaves you wide open to prosecution & possibly a corporate manslaughter charge should the unthinkable happen. Is it worth it for the price of a harness???
 
Flinty said:
:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh: Ah that was a good one. You know many that do?
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I've never worked for one that doesn't if they can't be bothered to provide You with a Safety Helmet and a Harness then they're not worth bothering with.
 
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