Fall safety bags are cushions made to break the impact of a person who is falling from height. They are an essential part of fall protection equipment for certain industries. You can buy or hire fall safety bags from Fall-Pac, a company specialising in fall protection. But what are fall safety bags made of and how do they work?
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How Do Fall Safety Bags Work?
Workers in different industries, including port authorities, film making and construction often have to work from height. This creates a number of hazards and requires regular risk and safety assessments.
A fall safety bag is part of a fall arrest system. Ultimately, it is there to absorb the impact of someone who is already falling, thus protecting them from serious injury or even fatality.
When a person falls from a height, they fall at a speed that is proportional to the distance of the fall. This means that if someone falls from twice as high, they are falling at twice the speed. A fall safety bag absorbs some of this energy, reducing the impact of a fall onto a surface below by spreading out the force across a larger area.
What Are Fall Safety Bags Made Of
Typically, fall safety bags are made from a heavy duty outer casing such as nylon. Inside, the material is often made from polystyrene or contains air pockets. The material is weather resistant so ideal for use even in the wettest environments as found in ports or on construction sites.
There are two types of fall safety bag from Fall-Pac.
The first is the Fall-Pac unit, made with polystyrene for a softer impact on landing. Each Fall-Pac unit uses a high quality woven Polypropylene with extra UV inhibitors that help to extend its natural life-cycle.The products comply to the HSE regulations and British Standards PAS59. At an extra cost, you can opt for a fire retardant fall safety bag.
The Fall Pac unit inflates on site to the strength you need depending on the job.
Then there is the Fall-Pac Air.
The Fall-Pac Air contains a specific amount of air pockets, already filled before coming to the site. The Fall-Pac air provides the same protection, but takes away the responsibility of inflating the safety bags from the site manager or operator. Each bag is made from solid polymer film.
How Easy Are Safety Bags To Use
As well as the obvious benefit to safely working on site, there are other benefits to installing a fall safety bag. Firstly, they are very easy to move to where you need them to be as they are fairly lightweight. So even if you don’t have much space, there are still options available to you with safety bags.
Secondly, the Fall-Pac unit in particular is ideal for cross-industry safety. Which means you can use the unit for industries including lorry fall protection, haulage, trailer and aerospace.
Thirdly, you can install it quickly. It has simple, interlocking clips which you can use to move, inflate and secure the unit within minutes.
Finally, when you don’t need the unit anymore, you can recycle it! The Fall-Pac range is 100% recyclable.
Why Choose Fall-Pac
There are many fall safety bag companies out there, so why choose Fall-Pac in particular to provide your safety bags?
Fall-Pac is a company which designs and manufacturers fall safety bags in the UK. Their products conform to the very latest safety standards and they can even tailor the solution you’re looking for to your industry needs.
As well as this, Fall-pac offer on site monitoring and inspections giving you peace of mind that your fall safety bags are working correctly.
The products go through regular and rigorous testing and the data from this testing is published, so you can see that the products meet the highest standards.
Moreover, if you have a one off job or a site that only requires a single use, then you can always hire the bags instead of buying them. This gives you more options when considering a fall arrest system as part of your working from height protection.
How Long Do They Last
The average lifespan of a Fall-Pac unit is around 5 years, which is nearly double that of other soft fall systems on the market.
Of course, in order to maintain the unit’s lifespan, it needs proper maintenance and inspection. Regular inspections are an essential part of keeping your employees safe. The Fall-Pac team can offer you an on site inspection to ensure optimal working conditions of the fall safety bags.
Who Inflates The Fall Safety Bag
As with any product, particularly when talking about fall safety, the item will only do its job if working correctly. With fall safety bags, you need to think about the hazards on your site and where you place the bags to ensure that any potential falls are covered.
Furthermore, you must inflate the bags correctly in order to absorb the impact and weight of a fall. If the bags suffer damage or they are deflating, then this will not give the falling person adequate protection and could lead to serious injury or worse.
Therefore, anyone using a fall safety bag must have the appropriate training in place to use it. The worker must be a competent person with specific training. As mentioned above, if the responsible person would rather not inflate the fall safety bags, the Fall-Pac air units are available with pre-filled air pockets.
Conclusion
Fall safety bags work by breaking the impact of a fall, but vary in the maximum weight they can absorb. It is the responsibility of the site owner or manager to choose the appropriate fall safety equipment for the job. At Fall-Pac, you can guarantee that the products go through regular testing and comply with the HSE Work at Height standards.