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Competent Person Equipment Inspection
Fasten a friction buckle and pull to make sure that the webbing will not creep. If equipped with a
sliding bar, make sure the bar moves as it should. The spring used with some sliding bar buckles
should maintain pressure on the webbing captured by the buckle.
Inspecting a Full Body Harness
As with any component of a fall arrest system, the two-stage inspection process must be followed.
A full body harness must be inspected before and after each use and by a designated competent
person at least every six months
Pay particular attention to harness labeling during inspection. Each harness should have labels
which convey all of the following information:
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Part number, model and manufacturer;
Year of manufacture;
Material of construction;
Size of the harness;
The correct fall arrest attachment element;
The purpose(s) of any other attachment elements;
Maximum weight of user (capacity), including clothing and equipment;
Donning, adjusting and use information;
Maximum free fall distance permitted.
If any of this information is missing, the harness should be removed from use, tagged as "unusable",
and delivered to the person designated by your organization.
Harnesses (figure 8) will usually be stitched using a special
pattern of lock-stitches. The stitching will be in a color that
contrasts with the webbing to assist in the inspection. If any
stitches are pulled or broken, the harness must be removed
from service following the above-described procedure.
The webbing should be inspected for cuts, tears, stretching of
fibers, fraying, raveling of edges, excessive wear or abrasion,
chemical attack, excessive soiling, burns, weld spatter and
alteration. When inspecting the webbing, hold your hands six
to eight inches apart, and flex the webbing into a "U" shape to
reveal frayed or broken fibers. The presence of hardened or
discolored spots on the webbing is an indication of exposure
to chemical attack or an excessive heat source.
Figure 3
If a harness does not pass inspection for any reason, it must be removed from use,
marked as unusable, and promptly delivered to the designated person. Defective harnesses should be
stored separately from usable harnesses, or they should be destroyed by cutting the webbing into
short, unusable lengths.
REVISED June 2007
Section C: Policy 3.0 / Page 17 of 34