ABSORBICA-Y lanyards and fall-arrest lanyard connector parking on the harness
With a two-arm (Y) lanyard, connecting one arm to the harness is dangerous, except to specific locations designed for this purpose.
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.
1. Petzl solution: fall-arrest lanyard connector parking
Located on each of the harness’ shoulder straps, the fall-arrest lanyard connector parking is an equipment loop with a system that releases any load greater than a few kilograms.
In a fall with a lanyard arm attached to the fall-arrest lanyard connector parking, the lanyard arm will be released and the energy absorber can deploy normally.
Examples:
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2. Risk of preventing energy absorber deployment (before 2024)
To cushion a fall, the energy absorber must be able to deploy freely. If a lanyard arm is attached to a strong part of the harness, deployment is prevented, with a risk of elevated impact force.
3. Evolution in absorber design (from 2024)
With the new absorber range starting in 2024, the attachment loop design for Y-lanyards helps reduce the risk of a high impact force when a lanyard arm is clipped to a strong part of the harness.
Slippage of the lanyard can hinder proper deployment of the absorber, thus slightly increasing the impact force. This solution only reduces the consequences of improperly clipping the free arm, and does not in any way replace the fall-arrest lanyard connector parking, which remains the best solution for stowing the free arm.
