Dorsal suspension in full-body harnesses: Comparison of perceived discomfort, pressure and physiological response

Abstract

Falls from height are still a major occupational hazard, particularly in the construction industry, where it is the leading cause of fatal injuries. When opting for personal fall arrest systems, the use of a safety harness is mandatory. Following a fall arrest, motionless suspension in a full-body harness can be hazardous and lead to death. This paper investigates the effect of harness type, gender, and somatotype on perceived discomfort, the pressure exerted by the harness straps, and the evolution of physiological parameters in motionless suspension.For this study, 30 male and 30 female students (10 ectomorph, 10 mesomorph, and 10 endomorph for each gender) were suspended for a maximum of ten minutes from the dorsal D-ring, in four different harnesses. The selected harnesses for this study are commercially available, one of them is X-configuration, another is Y-configuration, and the other two are the more traditional H-configuration. The results show that the H-configuration harnesses, which are very common in the industry and often the cheapest models, are perceived as the least tolerable in suspension. Moreover, H-configuration harnesses lead to greater reduction in muscular blood oxygenation and greater increase in the heart rate, which could make this type of harness hazardous. The Y-configuration harness seems to be the best performer in suspension. The influence of the sub-pelvic strap on suspension tolerance is not very clear and could be studied further. Those results could be useful to develop new harness models that would increase the suspension time tolerance.