Tool drops are one of the most terrifying hazards on any elevated work site. A two-pound pipe wrench falling a hundred feet will punch right through a hard hat and a skull. Because of this, OSHA and safety managers have aggressively pushed for 100% tool tethering. Workers are required to attach a lanyard to every drill, hammer, and wrench they carry. The problem is that workers fundamentally misunderstand how elastic tool lanyards work, and as a result, they are constantly dropping tools even when the lanyards are attached.
The most common mistake is using an elastic shock-absorbing lanyard for a tool that is too heavy. Elastic lanyards are designed exactly like the shock-absorbing lanyards used for human fall protection. They are meant to be stretched out and retracted constantly. If you attach a three-pound impact wrench to a lightweight elastic lanyard, the constant downward pull of the tool puts the elastic under permanent tension. Over the course of a few weeks, the elastic fibers simply stretch out and give up. They suffer from permanent "creep." The lanyard goes from being a tight 3-foot cord to a limp 6-foot rope. When the worker drops the wrench, the loose elastic pays out instantly, the tool hits the ground, and the shock absorber never even gets a chance to deploy.
Elastic lanyards should only be used for very light tools-screwdrivers, small tape measures, or pliers. For anything heavier than a couple of pounds, you must use a fixed-length, non-elastic webbing lanyard or a heavy-duty steel cable lanyard.
The second fatal error is poor attachment points. Workers will loop the lanyard around the handle of a hammer or the grip of a drill, and then just snap the carabiner back onto the lanyard itself. If you drop the tool, the weight of the falling object rips the loop closed, the carabiner pops open, and the tool falls. A tool lanyard must always be attached to a certified hard point on the tool itself-usually a captive eyelet built into the handle or a specific tethering hole in the tool's casing. Furthermore, you have to inspect the stitching on the webbing constantly. Tool lanyards take a massive amount of abuse, rubbing against sharp steel edges and getting stepped on. If the load-bearing stitching on the loops is frayed or cut, the webbing will rip apart like paper the second it catches the weight of a falling tool. Tool tethering is a highly mechanical system, not just a piece of string tied to a drill.
