For decades, OSHA has required that employers have a prompt rescue plan for workers who fall and are suspended in a full-body harness. The reality, however, is that "prompt" is rarely achieved. A worker hanging on a shock-absorbing lanyard cannot rescue themselves, and bringing a ladder or a mechanical winch to a remote steel beam often takes 20 to 30 minutes. During this time, the worker's leg straps compress the femoral arteries, blood pools in the legs, and the heart is starved of blood volume. This causes Suspension Trauma (Harness Hang Syndrome), which can cause unconsciousness in minutes and death in under 20. Even if rescued alive, the sudden rush of toxins from the stagnant blood back to the heart can cause fatal cardiac arrest.
The PPE industry is now mandating a technological solution to eliminate the dependency on slow human rescue: Automatic Descent Devices (ADD) and Self-Retracting Lanyards with Integral Rescue (SRL-R).
These devices are engineered to remove the human error from the rescue equation. When a worker falls, the SRL arrests the fall as normal. However, after a few seconds, if the worker does not manually reset the device (which an unconscious worker cannot do), a secondary mechanism automatically engages. The device slowly and steadily lowers the worker to the ground at a controlled speed of about 3.5 feet per second.
The worker is not left hanging, waiting for a rescue team. They are automatically brought to a safe level where they can detach from the harness, and gravity assists in restoring blood flow to the core. In high-iron construction and tower climbing, the standard "shock pack and lanyard" is rapidly becoming obsolete. If your fall protection system does not have an automatic or remote-activated descent capability, you are gambling with suspension trauma.
