Posted By Martin We have a situation whereby a manager is trying to decide how often to replace safety kit such as ropes, harnesses etc. The manufacturers guidance says that ropes should be replaced after 2 years, which represents - he thinks - an excessive and unnecessary cost. The manager is suggesting 5 yearly replacement. (This is assuming no adverse use of kit or abnormal wear & tear or damage, in which case they would be replaced). The kit is inspected daily pre-use, 6 monthly internally inspected and 12 monthly externally inspected. My first thought was that you can't dismiss the manufacturers guidance without very good justification, but they do have a vested interest to sell more units. Does anyone have any experience of this and how to proceed if you believe the manufacturers guidance is excessive. How would this stand up in court should something horrible happen. Any help is gratefully recieved.