Is it necessary to make full-body harnesses mandatory?

No matter where you go—past or present, East or West—"safety first" is a universal theme.

I’m sure that at most construction sites today, site supervisors, project managers, and workers came together for the morning meeting, saying, “Let’s stay safe today!” The safety of the workers, the safety of the neighbors, and, of course, the safety of the supervisors themselves are all important.

But realistically, how strict do you think safety measures need to be? Aren’t they a bit excessive?

What do you honestly think about the “requirement to wear a full-body harness,” which goes into effect in February 2019?

Is using a safety harness with two points of attachment really safe?

At the very least, the double-pointed safety harness—which is considered essential for construction workers.

Originally, safety harnesses had only one hook, but now they come with two; the current standard is to use a full-body harness—not the waist-strap type—with both hooks attached.

In the case of construction workers, since they have to perform heavy labor in unstable areas where the scaffolding hasn’t been fully erected yet, I understand that using two safety harnesses is mandatory—based on the principle that there must never be a moment when the safety harness is not secured.

However, did you know that there is a movement to make this two-person operation mandatory for other workers as well?

I heard this story at a lecture somewhere a while back: in an effort to eliminate falls from scaffolding, they proposed equipping all workers with harnesses that double as safety lines.

No, no, no—wait, wait, wait. It’s precisely because they’re just a bunch of bigwigs in suits who usually only make the rounds on site that they come up with ideas like that.

If you think of it solely in terms of the equation “Always wearing a safety harness = won’t fall,” that may indeed be true, but I feel that perspective overlooks the question of whether it’s actually feasible to wear a harness that doubles as a two-point harness.

The Physical Strain of Mandatory Full-Body Harness Use

First, there’s the cost issue. Safety harnesses are already quite expensive, and if we were to equip everyone with full-body harnesses, it would cost an astronomical amount of money.

Of course, workers generally provide their own equipment, but since most of them do not own full-body harnesses, making the use of full-body harnesses mandatory would reduce the number of workers able to enter the site, which would hinder construction work.

If we end up having to cover those costs on-site, the larger the project, the greater the burden will be, and we’ll need funds beyond what can be covered by operating expenses.

Next is the issue of the burden on artisans.

Of course, I do ask them to wear the waist-type safety harness, but when it comes to a full-body harness, the physical strain on the workers is quite different.

Since the scaffolders are still in the process of erecting the scaffolding, I don’t often have the chance to walk through it once it’s finished, but the other workers have to walk around on the narrow scaffolding, so they have to stay bent over the whole time.

Even a safety harness worn around the waist can cause back pain if you attach a tool pouch to it—since that alone adds a fair amount of weight—yet a safety harness alone weighs more than twice as much, and if you add a tool pouch on top of that, where is the safety of the workers’ bodies?

Just because the pain builds up gradually, does that mean it’s not a work-related injury?

Mandatory Use of Full-Body Harnesses

And then there's the question of whether it's actually possible.

Aside from the financial feasibility, the question is whether it’s always possible to work using a full-body harness with a double-point attachment.

To begin with, the reason for using two ropes is to ensure that, when a roofer is moving positions during assembly, there is never even a split second when the rope is not secured.

If other workers had to reattach their safety harnesses every time they moved, they wouldn’t be able to move around freely, and we’d end up in a ridiculous situation where people would complain about the sound of the safety harnesses being fastened.

Furthermore, there are some work areas that are so narrow you can barely fit your hand through. Wouldn’t it be quite difficult to put on a harness and work in a place like that?

In any case, due to a change in the law, the use of full-body harnesses will become mandatory starting in February 2019. At heights of 6.75 meters or more (or 5 meters or more in the construction industry), workers will be required to wear full-body harnesses without exception.

As of July 2019, manufacturers will no longer be able to produce safety harnesses that comply with the current structural standards, and as of January 2022, both the use and sale of such safety harnesses will be prohibited.

There’s still a bit of a grace period before it becomes mandatory, but from a frontline perspective, I imagine there are quite a few people who have some complaints, aren’t there?

The God of Construction