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It's always surprising to me how fall risks operate in the world of OSHA compared to rock climbing. There's an entire domain where people take good-sized falls

It's always surprising to me how fall risks operate in the world of OSHA compared to rock climbing. There's an entire domain where people take good-sized falls as an everyday event, just sort of sitting in parallel with the domain where they're considered a major risk needing emergency-response measures. Obviously, some of that is a real difference in situation. Construction falls are unplanned and happen under all sorts of odd circumstances, and people are quite often injured during their falls. Climbers have someone managing the other end of their rope at all times, on a system that makes lowering them to the ground straightforward. But other differences seem absolutely pointless. The "suspended by your groin, legs hanging straight down" posture of construction harnesses massively accelerates suspension trauma, while climbing harnesses pull the legs up and keep pressure on large muscles. And there are companies starting to use that design for safety gear, so it's not a regulatory issue - it just somehow took decades to cross the gap.

takk309 8y ago
I big difference between a climbing harness and a construction harness is the tie in point. Climbing it is fine to have that point in front of the user. For construction, having the rope constantly in front of you would be a real inconvenience. By tying in on the back, the harness will hold the user in a different orientation just due to the way weight is distributed.
- Bartweiss 8y ago
  That's definitely part of it; climbing harnesses tend to support you in a position that's great for suspension trauma, but involves a pretty inconvenient rope. They're also waist-and-hip only, and while they'll reliably hold a climber through a flip, it doesn't sound great for chaotic, confined-space falls where you might stay upside down. The newer generation of construction harnesses are still back-clipped and full-body though - a short strap runs from the waist to the back clip to redistribute weight without normally being in front of you. Presumably getting that working smoothly and safely was an extra engineering hurdle, but I'm still surprised harnesses went so long without even including waistbands.
module0000 8y ago
As a fellow climber, a first-time(but long-time climbing veteran) lead climb partner taught me a valuable lesson about this: Always carry an ascender, even if it's not for you. They are inexpensive, and the 10 seconds you spend feeding it above your harness can save your life. Tying a prusik is easy, and you should be able to do it in your sleep before even thinking about lead climbing outside of a gym. However...tying a Prusik with a fractured arm and bleeding head after a 15-50 foot lead climbing fall before you smack against the face is less-than-easy. In those situations, being able to grab the ascender with whichever hand/arm is not fractured, is far easier than starting a Prusik.
ken 8y ago
It's partially a quirk of OSHA, and possibly a temporary one. Analogous safety standards in Europe, I'm told, allow for either the dorsal or sternal D to be used for fall arrest.

takk309 8y ago

I big difference between a climbing harness and a construction harness is the tie in point. Climbing it is fine to have that point in front of the user. For construction, having the rope constantly in front of you would be a real inconvenience. By tying in on the back, the harness will hold the user in a different orientation just due to the way weight is distributed.

Bartweiss 8y ago
That's definitely part of it; climbing harnesses tend to support you in a position that's great for suspension trauma, but involves a pretty inconvenient rope. They're also waist-and-hip only, and while they'll reliably hold a climber through a flip, it doesn't sound great for chaotic, confined-space falls where you might stay upside down. The newer generation of construction harnesses are still back-clipped and full-body though - a short strap runs from the waist to the back clip to redistribute weight without normally being in front of you. Presumably getting that working smoothly and safely was an extra engineering hurdle, but I'm still surprised harnesses went so long without even including waistbands.

module0000 8y ago

As a fellow climber, a first-time(but long-time climbing veteran) lead climb partner taught me a valuable lesson about this: Always carry an ascender, even if it's not for you. They are inexpensive, and the 10 seconds you spend feeding it above your harness can save your life. Tying a prusik is easy, and you should be able to do it in your sleep before even thinking about lead climbing outside of a gym. However...tying a Prusik with a fractured arm and bleeding head after a 15-50 foot lead climbing fall before you smack against the face is less-than-easy. In those situations, being able to grab the ascender with whichever hand/arm is not fractured, is far easier than starting a Prusik.

ken 8y ago

It's partially a quirk of OSHA, and possibly a temporary one. Analogous safety standards in Europe, I'm told, allow for either the dorsal or sternal D to be used for fall arrest.