Work Positioning Lanyard

The next piece of kit we are going to look at here is what was known as our work positioning lanyard. Again, there are different manufacturers out there that make different types, but they all basically do the same thing. We do need to do an inspection on this, the same as any other piece of equipment, and again, what we are looking for first and foremost is where our serial number is. The serial number of this particular piece of equipment is actually imprinted on to the metal part of the adjuster, as you can see, where my finger is pointing here.

As we go to the other information that we look for, which is what the lifespan is according to the manufacturer and our EN numbers and CE numbers, this is even less visible. It is actually printed very small onto the plastic here, as we can just about see. Once I have looked at the relative information and I am happy with the information, the same as any other piece of equipment, I need to do a pre-use inspection of it. What we will do is we will start here with the hook attached that we have here, very much like the scaffold hook. What I need to do, again, two operations. I do need to depress the back to be able to open the front to make sure that that operates correctly, and I make sure it will not open on its own without depressing the back. I will give it a quick all around to make sure I am happy with the condition of it, so as there is no splits or damage done to it or any rusting or anything like that.

From this point here, what I am going to do is, I am going to work down the rope. This is a standard rope. It is not like the rope we have been looking at on the lanyards, the low stretch kernmantle, but I still have to give it that same inspection. I still need to make sure that I am happy with the condition of it before I actually put it into use. So, I am going to check all along the rope again, making sure I am happy with this particular piece of rope. It does have a rope protector on it, which will slide out of the way, so as I can get to check all the other areas of the rope, and I am just giving it a good visual, making sure that there is nothing there that potentially could cause this to fail me.

Once I have checked the rope, the next piece of equipment is this particular piece here, and this actually slides along the rope. It will lock off and it will slide one way but not the other unless I trigger it. So, as I am looking at it now, you can see it is quite happily pulling one way, but it will not pull the other way. For me to actually get it to go the opposite way, I need to depress the trigger, to allow it to slide the opposite way. It will slide both ways now. If I let go of the trigger and let pull, it will not slide the one way, but it will the opposite way. The reason for this, I will explain to you a bit later on when we come to the demonstration part. I do need to inspect this as well to make sure I am happy with everything on this, to make sure it is in working order, making sure there is no damage done to it or anything that seems like it could fail me.

Last but not the least, we do have our carabiner. Slightly different to the carabiners we were looking at earlier because they were either triple-lock or twist-locks, this one is a screw-gate, and for this to operate, what I need to do is unscrew the gate to allow me to be able to open the carabiner. When I attach it to me, I must make sure that that gate is screwed closed. The reason for that then is so as it will not accidentally open on its own. That is locked into place, a slight twist back so as it does not cause friction lock if I put any tension on it and that is locked into place. I then have to have a good look around my carabiner to make sure I am happy with the condition of my carabiner. One of the things we do look for, though, is where the actual screw-gate is here, making sure that that is a nice rounded shape. We do not want it where it could have actually gone into more like an egg shape because that could actually cause it to not lock off correctly for us.

Once I have done all that and I am quite happy with it, all I need to do now is add it to my harness.