Which harness attachment points should be used for restraint?
Petzl professional harnesses have a variety of shapes and levels of complexity, with between two and six certified attachment points. Each attachment point may be used for restraint.
Warnings
- Carefully read the Instructions for Use used in this technical advice before consulting the advice itself. You must have already read and understood the information in the Instructions for Use to be able to understand this supplementary information.
- Mastering these techniques requires specific training. Work with a professional to confirm your ability to perform these techniques safely and independently before attempting them unsupervised.
- We provide examples of techniques related to your activity. There may be others that we do not describe here.
A restraint system limits the work zone to help prevent the worker from entering an area that presents a fall risk. This system is not designed to arrest a fall from height.
The user must set up the restraint system in such a way as to ensure that the system effectively prevents them from being exposed to a fall risk.
From a regulatory standpoint, the EN 358 certification covers the use of attachment points for restraint. However, in the absence of a fall risk and therefore of suspension in the harness, in practice, any attachment point on the harness can be used for restraint.
The choice of attachment point used for restraint may be dictated by the specific requirements of the task to be carried out, such as selecting a dorsal point so that the lanyard is not in the work zone in front of the user.
Special case of side attachment points: restraint is the only situation where it is acceptable to use a single side attachment point on its own. As a reminder, in applications involving suspension in the harness or work positioning, the side points must be used in pairs, right and left at the same time.
ABSORBICA fall-arrest lanyards are sometimes used in certain restraint systems. In such cases, follow the Instructions for Use for the lanyard, which specify that it must only be connected to a fall-arrest point on the harness (sternal or dorsal, marked with an A).
