fall arrest systems: dynamic tests as a basis for monitoring and training
TRANSCRIPT
1 safe at work
Dynamic, biomechanical tests and
videos made in Switzerland in 2009
www.isfp.com / June 16th 2010 Baltimoore / [email protected]
Content
The aim of this presentation is to show:
Sample videos and illustrations of physical impacts
to the human body when arrested in a non-upright
position by a fall-protection system
How to support training facilities
Starting with a "Opensource"-Project for
fallprotection training
www.isfp.com / June 16, 2010 Baltimore / [email protected]
The situation in Switzerland (1) .. not just watches, chocolate, banks in trouble & fine cheese
We are a small country (population: 7.8 millions)
- 230 times smaller in area and 40 x fewer inhabitants than the USA
excellent accident-prevention regulations and laws
- No scope for any misunderstandings in global but lack of details
Suva (Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund)
- is responsible for all companies operating in high-risk areas
… more than just a insurance fund:
prevention, monitoring, insurance & rehabilitation
under the same roof
www.isfp.com / June 16, 2010 Baltimore / [email protected]
The situation in Switzerland (2) .. not just watches, chocolate, banks in trouble & fine cheese
Very Multi-Multilingual culture
- 4 official languages (Swiss-German, French, Italian & Rumantsch)
and real strong local dialects
- About 60% of employees on construction sites having a migrational
background (Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Serbo-Croatian,
Albanian, Turkish etc.) = lack of knowledge of the local dialect
www.isfp.com / June 16, 2010 Baltimore / [email protected]
The situation in Switzerland (3) mandatory by law:
Guardrails / edge-protection-systems, Scaffolding and
safety nets are compulsory when working at heights
greater than ~ 9 feet (3.0 meters) above the ground
PPE / personal fall protection is only permitted when the
use of scaffolding, safety nets, mobile elevating work
platforms, etc. is technically impossible or too dangerous
to attempt
That’s why the use of PPE when working at a height is
called:
“the worst of all less than optimum solutions”
www.isfp.com / June 16, 2010 Baltimore / [email protected]
Nets for road / railwaytrack protection
www.isfp.com / June 16th 2010 Baltimoore / [email protected]
The situation in Switzerland (4)
But:
~ 1/3 of accident fatalities or disabilities are caused by
people falling from a height!!
… and there is still an enormous number of real small
companies (< 5 workers) that are unaware of
fall protection
www.isfp.com / June 16, 2010 Baltimore / [email protected]
Construction site was closed down
immediatly:
9
some of them even try hard….
10
"… I never thought about..."
2010 - Fallprotection for engineers - Haan / Germany / [email protected]
He knew, that there is a certain risk
2010 - Fallprotection for engineers - Haan / Germany / [email protected]
August 19th, 2009 44 feet / 13.50 meters 5 hours later, another roofer was preparing to climb the roof to repair it
– and he had left his PPE in his car!!
13.50m
Why carry out tests with instrumented
crash-test dummies?
We had no video sequences showing common
construction-site situations with falls from a height
We had no idea of the forces and accelerations
involved when a fall from a non-upright position is
arrested by PPE
We needed a way to make direct comparisons
between the different types of fall-protection
equipment and systems
www.isfp.com / June 16, 2010 Baltimore / [email protected]
Our instrumented crash-test dummy (1)
HIII 95% ATD (anthropomorphic test device)
www.isfp.com / June 16, 2010 Baltimore / [email protected] 04.08.2009
Head & neck module
• Triaxial accelerometer (x, y, z)
• Triaxial gyroscope (x, y, z)
• 6-channel upper-neck load cell
(Fx, Fy, Fz, Mx, My, Mz)
Chest & lumbar spine cell
• Chest deformation sx
• Lumbar spine Fx, Fz, My
Pelvis cell
• Pedestrian pelvis of a HIII 50% ATD
• Triaxial accelerometer (x, y, z)
Crash-test dummy
• Modified HIII 95% male ATD with a
pedestrian pelvis, mass of 100kg ( 220lbs)
Our instrumented crash-test dummy (2)
HIII 95% ATD (anthropomorphic test device)
www.isfp.com / June 16, 2010 Baltimore / [email protected] 04.08.2009
M = BUS (Messring Systembau GmbH D-Munich)
• Recording frequency: 20 kHz
• Duration of recordings: max. 17 seconds
• The data is stored by loggers directly from the sensor
•The ADT can be operated by wireless no cable impact on event kinematics
•Connection between the individual loggers can be interrupted during the tests without any loss of data
Dummy system of coordinates M = BUS communications unit with a
rechargeable battery
“The man” - white rope is the backup rope
17
Pendulum fall against a scaffolding pole
more than just a headache
Regulations/limits - WRAIR
- ECE-R94 (Link)
- Directive 2003/102/EC
- FAR-25.642
- WTD 91-440e
18
Conclusion of ADT tests in 2009
While most of the results did not represent a dummy
“fatality”, even the film sequences looked shocking
The experiments were not reproducible
a fall is always a unique movement
Results are not a exact science
It is important to make people understand that the
proper use of PPE may prevent fatalities caused by
falls to the ground, but the danger of injury remains
Promoting the use of restraining systems in
training
www.isfp.com / June 16, 2010 Baltimore / [email protected]
Benefits & Risks
Benefits
Videos help to visualize the forces behind physical
impacts on a human being, specially in a
multilingual country like Switzerland
Slow-motion video makes it more comprehensible
You can even watch it on your cellphone
It is often too time-consuming and too dangerous for
live, on-site demonstrations - videos help
Risks
Videos can be quite frightening – can they alienate?
www.isfp.com / June 16, 2010 Baltimore / [email protected]
How can we make the risk of high shock
loads and accelerations understandable?
By using more shocking videos?
By using shocking images?
With self-experiments? (each one jumps himself)
Difficult to understand but easy to feel?
= Confucius (450 B.C) freely interpreted
– Tell me, and I will forget.
Show me, and I may remember.
Involve me, and I will understand. (Confucius, 450)
– Let me feel it and I will never forget! (Bernhard 2010)
www.isfp.com / June 16, 2010 Baltimore / [email protected]
Possible self experiments
1. Jump up 2 inches and land on your heels with
stiff knees (no energy absorbed)
2. Pendulum fall against a plank (both can feel it!)
3. Shockload with and without shockabsorber
www.isfp.com / June 16th 2010 Baltimoore / [email protected]
Suva fallprotection training concept (introduced in spring 2010 -duration 1 day at least)
Theory included in
practical part
Tools & training-
proposals
Short Video-sequences
background-information
Training-Posters for
training-centers
www.isfp.com / June 16, 2010 Baltimore / [email protected]
Opensource website
for fall-protection training
www.absturzrisiko.ch www.fallprotection.ch
www.antichute.ch www.anticaduta.ch
Learning / training units (booklets & posters)
Tools for training-administration
Vector graphics (*.svg) for your own posters
Videos (30-60 seconds each on a specific subject)
Products (new & unknown ones)
Services like training site safety, colaboration etc.
FAQ's & eLearning
Still growing & being translated www.isfp.com / June 16, 2010 Baltimore / [email protected]
A microsite for its own www.absturzrisiko.ch / www.fallprotection.ch / www.antichute.ch / www.anticaduta.ch
www.isfp.com / June 16th 2010 Baltimoore / [email protected]
Further videos on YouTube
29 ..like worksafe BC (Canada) is doing it excellently
