Whether you're working on steel frame construction, a bridge repair project or at the top of an oilrig platform, if you're involved in heavy industry, you're thinking safety. Or you should be.

When you're 130 stories above the city, with a 40-knot wind whipping around you, when you're tired at the end of a long shift, or the platform you're standing on is slick with rain, safety comes down to just two things: you and the choices you make. Choosing the harness and fall protection equipment that is right for the job and right for you is a matter of life and death.

As recently as 10 years ago, making decisions about industrial safety was much easier — primarily because the knowledge of hazards and selection of equipment was limited. If a worker needed fall protection, that usually meant wearing a body belt and some kind of lanyard, probably rope.

Thankfully for workers, things have come a long way in the last decade, with harness and equipment designers paying equal attention to both form and function. Manufacturers have invested heavily in field research and product design to introduce "intelligent" full body harnesses plus shock absorbing lanyards, self retracting lifelines, rope grabs and other products that can combine comfort on the job with flawless performance in a crisis.

Safety harness design has been very slow to evolve. Until recently, the look, functionality and features of the modern harness looked strikingly similar to the earliest models developed in the 1940s. These early, heavy and cumbersome harnesses were developed from World War II parachute designs and have unfortunately remained the standard for decades. They are difficult to put on and adjust and offer limited mobility around the worksite when connected to a lifeline or lanyard. Often workers choose to go without their harnesses to avoid carrying the additional weight all day and to gain the mobility needed for their jobs. This can place employers in a difficult situation when it comes to complying with statutory safety requirements. Any company that allows this to happen faces heavy fines while workers risk serious injury or death.

In the last year or so, manufacturers have turned to technological advancements and begun looking to other industries for design expertise in stress management, shock absorption and new lightweight materials and mechanisms that improve adjustment, fit and worker comfort. All of these factors have rapidly become the hot new trends in harness design and manufacture.

A harness isn't a pair of safety glasses or work gloves that you can remove a hundred times a day at your convenience. Traditional design harnesses can be heavy and awkward with straps that may tangle after the harness is removed and stored or that need frequent readjustment. If you're in a hurry after a quick lunch break or need to leave the building site that can be annoying. Cumulatively the number of man-hours wasted quickly adds up and costs employers in the long run.

New harness designs in development from a number of manufacturers are attempting to tackle these issues. Today the trend is moving far more toward the single-piece harness that is as quick and easy to put on as a backpack and almost as light and comfortable as a piece of work clothing.

The new one-piece harnesses are designed to slip over work clothes like a vest with straps that feature "memory" devices or strap-keepers. These retain the exact and original adjustment measurements of each strap and do not change as the harness is removed. They prevent straps from tangling or coming loose and snagging on equipment or around the work site.

Workers should also look for a harness that features additional padding. Older designs only offer heavyweight canvas straps that may cut and chafe with use, but with new developments in lighter-weight materials, manufacturers are introducing padded shoulder, leg, torso and buttock straps for a comfort fit and additional support in a fall.

As far as harness materials are concerned, canvas has given way to anti-tear, abrasion-resistant ballistic nylon. Although lightweight, this is the same high performance fabric used in military flak jackets and bulletproof vests and offers twice the endurance of standard nylon or polyester.

For maximum comfort, harnesses should be made from some form of moisture-wicking fabric. The best of these new generation designs offer both hydrophobic and hydrophilic fabric properties, where the layer closest to your skin wicks away perspiration through to the outer layer where it is vented away from the body to help keep you cool in hot and cold climate conditions.

Intuitive, fast-release mechanisms are also one of the fastest growing trends in harness design. Among these, one-handed buckles are the most advanced and feature opposed-action quick release levers that can be easily operated with one hand while holding tools or a ladder with the other.

With advances in harness design and more varieties now available, choosing the right product for the job or industry should be easy, but there are some basic steps to remember whichever model you choose.

A good quality, well-designed harness should retain its shape when taken off to avoid tangling and snagging. It should be comfortable to wear throughout the workday and offer adjustability across the chest, shoulders and leg straps. Additional options such as belts and seat slings can provide additional support, but are a matter of personal preference.

More importantly, the best harnesses will effectively spread the impact forces of a fall to the areas of the body best able to take the strain. In the days before harnesses, a fall wearing just a body belt would send impact forces straight to the spine or midsection. Today's harness designs channel those forces to the fatty tissues of the thighs and buttocks as well as to areas of the body like the chest and shoulders.

Another important feature is the functionality and location of the D-Ring. The D-Ring is the main connection point of any harness. A front D-Ring attached to the chest strap is critical for safe connection to a ladder climbing safety mechanism such as a fixed cable or rail system. A back D-Ring, used for connection to a lanyard or self-retracting lifeline will keep you in an upright position in the case of a fall. Side D-Rings are generally used for restraint and work positioning.

A note of caution for wearers of harnesses made of stretch fabric: take into account the stretch of the harness in calculating your fall distance and wear the harness snug enough so that the chest strap will not catch under your chin in the case of a fall.

With highly durable, lightweight materials, more intuitive strap and locking mechanisms and a wider variety of design innovations being introduced all the time, workers and employers now have a wealth of industrial safety harness options at their disposal. Manufacturers will also provide safety consultants who can assess on-site harness and other equipment needs to ensure employers and safety managers have all of the bases covered.

DBI/SALA will answer user questions and offer advice on choosing the right harness for the job. Call 800-328-6146. Or check out www.salagroup.com