Lanyard Parker

Late in 2004, a fatal accident highlighted the dangers of using twin fall-arrest lanyards incorrectly. The HSE has published an urgent advisory notice on the use of twin lanyards, and in reaction to this TAG has produced a safe, tested and reliable safety device.

What's the problem?

A twin fall arrest lanyard is one with a single shock absorber, connected to the user's harness, and two rope or webbing tails with hooks or karabiners, forming a Y-shape. They are designed for climbing and work at height where the user must change between attachment points and remain connected by at least one point at all times, for example climbing towers, scaffolding or open steelwork.

In the event of a fall, the shock absorber deploys by extending, and the force of the fall is limited to a safe value of 6kN (600kgf). This value is a legal requirement.

The incident was caused by the user stowing the 'spare' second tail of his lanyard by clipping it into a structural point on his harness (a side D-ring). This was a common practice, making the second tail easy to access and keeping it clear of the climber. However, by doing this, in the event of a fall the stowed tail can be short enough so that it comes under tension, with the force of the fall transmitted across the top of the shock absorber and not through it. If this happens, the impact force is not limited to a safe value, and the tails of the lanyard can themselves fail. This is what happened in late 2004.

Lanyard manufacturers and the HSE published immediate guidance saying that the 'stowed tail' of a twin lanyard must never be connected to a structural point on a harness. They state that the only safe options are to allow the second unused tail to hang freely, or to clip it to a designated parking point on the harness that is designed to fail under load. This means that simply finding a weak bit of a harness (like a gear loop) is NOT an option unless that has been specifically designed as a parking point. Currently very few harnesses have such features, and so TAG has designed a universal add-on parking point that will fit any design of harness and lanyard. The Parker allows the user to stow their second tail in a safe, easy-to-reach place without even having to look. It is kept high on the body, reducing the trip hazard caused by using a belt-level gear loop, and does not affect the harness' CE certification.

The Lanyard Parker

TAG's Parker is formed from an elasticated web sealed with hook-and-loop tape, with a semi-rigid high visibility attachment point. It will fit around the chest or shoulder straps of all fall arrest harnesses without any alteration or interference to their operation, and provides an easy-to-use place to clip lanyard tails when not in use. It will accept two large scaffold hooks, karabiners or Barracuda clamps.

The Parker is secure in normal use, but in the event of a fall is guaranteed to tear free at a safe force (less than 30kg) without damage to the harness or to itself.