Form - Fall Protection Equipment Inspection Card

One card per item of fall protection equipment: harnesses and ladder belts worn on aerial devices, towers and apparatus, lanyards, energy absorbers, self-retracting devices, connectors, anchor connectors and lifelines. Harnesses and hardware kept in a rope rescue kit are logged on Form - Rope and Rescue Equipment Log instead, so no item carries two records. The card follows the item. The user records a pre-use inspection only when it finds a defect; a competent person records every post-use inspection after firefighting or rescue (a duty some jurisdictions set by regulation: J16 Fall Protection and Rope Access), every periodic inspection and every inspection after an event. The inspection points and removal criteria follow the selection and use standard for active fall protection and the manufacturer’s instructions (CSA Z259.17:21), with life safety harnesses inspected to the care requirements of the life safety rope and equipment standard (NFPA 2500, 2022, ch. 24 to 28). The program sets the periodic interval at six months or the manufacturer’s interval if shorter (Working at Heights and Fall Protection Program section 5.10). The pocket check is in the program’s section 17.9.

Inspection type: U user pre-use (record only when a defect is found); P post-use after firefighting or rescue (competent person, before reuse); C competent-person periodic; E after an event (arrested fall, impact, heat or flame, chemical, contamination).

• Labels: present and legible: standard, class, serial or lot, date of manufacture, manufacturer.
• Webbing and straps: cuts, burns, melting, abrasion, glazing, chemical staining, fading, stiffness, mould, broken fibres.
• Stitching: broken, pulled, cut or missing stitches; exposed contrasting safety thread where the manufacturer uses it.
• Hardware: D-rings, buckles, adjusters, snap hooks and carabiners free of cracks, deformation, corrosion and sharp edges; gates close and lock by themselves; springs work.
• Indicators and energy absorbers: fall arrest indicator intact; absorber pack closed and undeployed.
• Self-retracting devices: housing intact; line extracts and retracts fully; the brake locks on a sharp pull; manufacturer service date current.
• Lifelines, fall arresters and anchor connectors: condition and function to the manufacturer’s instructions; rating label legible.

Retention. For the life of the item plus five years, the schedule in 05 Document Control and Records (Working at Heights and Fall Protection Program section 10). Hard rule. An item with an open quarantine entry, a missed post-use inspection or a passed service life date is not used, whatever its condition looks like. Privacy. The card names the inspector and, for personal issue, the member; it carries no other personal information.

This chapter relies on the following legal requirements, which differ by province and territory. Check your jurisdiction’s section on each topic page before adopting it.