§ 1910.140 Personal fall protection systems.
(a) Scope and application. This section establishes performance, care, and use criteria for all personal fall protection systems. The employer must ensure that each personal fall protection system used to comply with this part must meet the requirements of this section.
(b) Definitions. The following definitions apply to this section:
Anchorage means a secure point of attachment for equipment such as lifelines, lanyards, or deceleration devices.
Beltterminal means an end attachment of a window cleaner's positioning system used for securing the belt or harness to a window cleaner's belt anchor.
Body belt means a strap with means both for securing about the waist and for attaching to other components such as a lanyard used with positioning systems, travel restraint systems, or ladder safety systems.
Body harness means straps that secure about the employee in a manner to distribute the fall arrest forces over at least the thighs, pelvis, waist, chest, and shoulders, with a means for attaching the harness to other components of a personal fall protection system.
Carabiner means a connector generally comprised of a trapezoidal or oval shaped body with a closed gate or similar arrangement that may be opened to attach another object and, when released, automatically closes to retain the object.
Competent person means a person who is capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in any personal fall protection system or any component of it, as well as in their application and uses with related equipment, and who has authorization to take prompt, corrective action to eliminate the identified hazards.
Connector means a device used to couple (connect) parts of the fall protection system together.
D-ring means a connector used:
(i) In a harness as an integral attachment element or fall arrest attachment;
(ii) In a lanyard, energy absorber, lifeline, or anchorage connector as an integral connector; or
(iii) In a positioning or travel restraint system as an attachment element.
Deceleration device means any mechanism that serves to dissipate energy during a fall.
Deceleration distance means the vertical distance a falling employee travels from the point at which the deceleration device begins to operate, excluding lifeline elongation and free fall distance, until stopping. It is measured as the distance between the location of an employee's body harness attachment point at the moment of activation (at the onset of fall arrest forces) of the deceleration device during a fall, and the location of that attachment point after the employee comes to a full stop.
Equivalent means alternative designs, equipment, materials, or methods that the employer can demonstrate will provide an equal or greater degree of safety for employees compared to the designs, equipment, materials, or methods specified in the standard.
Free fall means the act of falling before the personal fall arrest system begins to apply force to arrest the fall.
Free fall distance means the vertical displacement of the fall arrest attachment point on the employee's body belt or body harness between onset of the fall and just before the system begins to apply force to arrest the fall. This distance excludes deceleration distance, lifeline and lanyard elongation, but includes any deceleration device slide distance or self-retracting lifeline/lanyard extension before the devices operate and fall arrest forces occur.
Lanyard means a flexible line of rope, wire rope, or strap that generally has a connector at each end for connecting the body belt or body harness to a deceleration device, lifeline, or anchorage.
Lifeline means a component of a personal fall protection system consisting of a flexible line for connection to an anchorage at one end so as to hang vertically (vertical lifeline), or for connection to anchorages at both ends so as to stretch horizontally (horizontal lifeline), and serves as a means for connecting other components of the system to the anchorage.