Abstract

Falls from heights are a cause of serious and fatal accidents on construction sites. The strategy for fall protection aims to eliminate hazards at source, by planning for maximum operations on the ground. When this is impossible, workers must be protected by using personal protective equipment consisting of a harness for gripping the body, a lanyard with an energy absorber and an anchor point as a lifeline. Made of synthetic textile materials, lifelines deteriorate with wear and weather, which can cause a loss of resistance and represent a breaking risk when they are used.

Despite significant advancements in the performance of these lifelines, the criteria for obsolescence have never been validated scientifically. The aim of this project is to study the aging and degradation of the materials used in manufacturing lifelines in order to establish experimentally validated obsolescence criteria. Workers will thus be able to dispose of unsafe lifelines; manufacturers will be able to improve the service life of synthetic lifelines.