For those responsible for the design, maintenance and management of buildings, health and safety is always a priority consideration. For engineers and architects, quantity surveyors, facilities and project managers, there is an unending challenge to consistently be able to protect people and keep them safe while they work. This can be a tall order and, in the context of working at height, one that requires the building industry as a whole to always be on the look-out for new products and systems that will truly do their job – which is to send people home safely at the end of each day. 

When it comes down to the basics, all of us working in fall protection have the same goal – to ensure the safety of the end user. I talk to many people in the industry on a daily basis who are all asking the same question: “When I’m working on a project that requires working at height, what systems should I put in place to ensure the job is done safely?” 

My answer is always the same – choose the products that have been most thoroughly and robustly tested. It’s as simple as that, but of course there are many regulations, directives and standards out there and it can become confusing knowing which to pay attention to. 

EN 795:2012 is a key standard when it comes to fall protection. It relates to the testing of anchor devices enabling people to work safely at height, and is therefore the minimum requirement that protects those people and keeps them safe. This Standard should be fundamental to any manufacturer of fall protection devices, and indeed those specifying and using the equipment – but unfortunately, this isn’t always the case.  

EN 795:1996 first came into play in 1996 – relating to the testing of personal fall protection equipment for a single user. It was updated three years ago to EN 795:2012 – a revised Standard giving far greater detail on testing and increased onus on the testing method itself – as well as being supported by a technical specification addressing testing for multiple users (CEN TS 16415). Overall, it provides a much more robust set of testing requirements. 

However, EN 795:2012 brought with it a certain number of new requirements, the most important of these being the need to test all anchor devices for fall arrest capability, even if the intended purpose of a device was only for fall restraint – something EN 795:1996 did not require. In fact, the 2012 update also closed the loop on any misunderstanding of the testing of fall restraint devices, as the 1996 revision technically only covered ‘arrest’ devices in the first place. The 2012 update allows for no misinterpretation of the Standard – all anchor devices must now be tested for fall arrest capability, regardless.

This is undoubtedly good news. However there is still a certain amount of freedom existing around the 2012 update; it is not yet a legal requirement for manufacturers to test to this Standard, meaning the most thoroughly tested products and systems are not being chosen. In turn, although the 2012 standard has been in place for over two years, there are new fall protection systems being specified and installed today with products still only able to demonstrate compliance to EN 795:1996.  

In an age where we are seeing increasing numbers of people working at huge heights – on tall buildings, roofs, electricity towers, cranes and much more – it has never been so important that people are being protected by the absolute best fall protection systems. At Latchways we want to encourage the entire building and engineering industry to be more aware of these standards when looking at fall protection – and to demand products and systems that are tested to EN 795:2012 – this is the only way to embrace the raising of standards and truly ensure the safety of the end user is put first.