Our new  
Polyiso plant  
is shipping now
©2024 GAF • COMGNAD008-0624
Great news for GAF Midwest 
customers! We’re now shipping 
EnergyGuard™ Polyiso insulation 
from our newest plant in Peru, 
Illinois, expanding availability and 
service to our valued customers in 
the region.
gaf.com/commercial
SAFETY
Continued from page 24
to successfully arrest their fall. A properly fitting harness 
is the lynchpin between ultimate safety being achieved 
and additional accidental injury occurring. A properly fitting 
harness helps prevent the latter.
Pre-use inspections are required on all pieces of fall 
protection equipment, and harness fit should be part of that 
inspection. Ensuring the harness is free of defects is as 
important as ensuring proper fit. 
Determining the correct harness size 
One of the most common misuse violations seen in 
the field is when employees incorrectly don their fall 
protection harnesses. Manufacturers offer multiple sizes 
for harnesses, and proper fit is the first step in ensuring a 
personal fall arrest system (PFAS) will work as expected in 
the event of a fall.
The industry standard is a five-point adjustable harness 
that will range between the printed sizes on the label. 
For example, a harness can be sold as small/medium, 
meaning it will fit a “small” worker to a “medium” worker. 
This is to accommodate people with longer torsos, 
shorter legs, bulkier clothing in colder climates, etc. When 
adjusting the harness,s there are several techniques to 
ensure an employee has the correct size harness for their 
body type. It’s important to note that the American National 
Standard Institute (ANSI) only allows workers ranging 
from 130 pounds to 420 pounds to use fall protection 
equipment, regardless if the harness fits properly.
Tips for adjusting leg straps 
When donning a harness, the user should unfasten the 
torso and leg connections — and loosen the shoulder and 
leg straps to their fullest extension before placing them 
on their shoulders, similar to putting on a backpack. This 
allows for easy adjustments to fine-tune a fit to the user’s 
height and body shape.
The user should first attempt to connect the leg straps. 
When connecting the leg straps, the user should situate 
the strap as horizontally as possible in a comfortable 
position on the upper thigh. The leg straps should never 
come in contact with the groin area. This part of the 
harness is of great significance in successfully arresting a 
fall without further injury to the worker. If the leg straps are 
too loose, they will “tighten” instantly during a fall, and the 
user will feel abrupt forces on their lower pelvic area.
Correctly tightened leg straps will still feel like they tighten 
during a fall, but they will not move up the leg — they will 
stay in the desired area. Connect the leg buckles and 
tighten them so that a flat palm can fit between the leg and 
Continued on page 26

View this content as a flipbook by clicking here.