There's no shortage of excuses from workers who don't want to put on hot, heavy gear. Who can blame them? Everyone has experienced less-than-optimal performance when trying to do a job wearing something unsuitable.
Comfort is crucial
Safety harnesses, including body belts, military-style and lighter-weight versions, have historically been everything but comfortable. And this has gotten in the way of getting the job done safely.
Comfort, in the world of occupational safety, is freedom of movement without pain. But what's comfortable for one person may not be comfortable for another, given a person's weight, height and girth.
With 35 percent of occupational deaths caused by falls, an uncomfortable harness isn't a nuisance; it's a potentially deadly distraction. That's why being consistently equipped and protected is central to performing well on the job and avoiding workplace injury.
But, given the issues of comfort, how? Enter the modern-day discipline of human factors.
Human factors helping to evolve the safety harness
"Human factors" is an evidence-based approach that applies principles of anatomy, physiology, engineering and design for the development of human-centric products to optimize worker performance and safety.
To address the comfort issue and help overcome worker reluctance to wearing the safety harness, global PPE manufacturer MSA invested in human factors-based research and participatory ergonomics.
"We decided to rethink the safety harness through the lens of human factors, because we wanted to maximize wearer comfort and minimize pressure and pinch points," said MSA Industrial Designer Mark Hall. "Human factors gave us a profound understanding of what it would take to create a comfortable, full-body safety harness that workers would be likely to wear consistently."
MSA conducted an exhaustive analysis that included anthropometric data, human anatomy and ergonomics, range of motion and heat mapping. MSA also conducted a waist pad analysis using people whose sizes corresponded to standard sizing charts, then leveraged 2,300-plus data points with respect to height, weight and waist circumference.
The extensive research led to a newly designed safety harness that incorporates comfort-centric features, such as a racing- style buckle for more mobility, contoured padding that fits the normal curves of the human body and a first-of-its-kind adjustable waist belt.
Conclusion
Safety harnesses have been around a long time for a very good reason: to save lives. But a safety harness alone cannot save a life; it must be put on and worn in compliance with safety regulations and standards.
It's time to eliminate the "it's too hot, too heavy" argument.
MSA has combined the science of fall protection with the discipline of human factors to create a comfortable, contoured, full-body harness that lets the worker focus on the job -- not the harness.
For more information about MSA's new V-SERIES® Harness Line delivering exceptional comfort, visit www.msa safety.com/vseriesfallprotection#demo or call (800) 672-2222.
