Posted By JAMES MM There is a duty to prevent falls. Carry out a risk assessment and check with the manafacture's instructions. I would say yes from experience.

Posted By Liam Nolan Hi, I understand that a person that is suspended by a harness needs to be rescued (as you say in your post), however do you have a source to back this up (a web address or leaflet) that I can download? As I say I know that this is required (quick rescue), but sometimes when I say it to employees, I don't have any documentation to back it up. I am just telling them that it causes circulation problems (inducing shock) etc., but this is just me making deductions on what would happen to the body when in this situation. Any pointers to documentation would be a big help (I am in Ireland, so web based information would be better). TIA Liam Nolan

Posted By Kevin Drew The document that explains it all is "Harness Suspension: Review and evaluation of existing information", HSE contract research report 451/2002. It is a large document at 116 pages but goes into detail about suspension trauma and harnesses. It's £20 from HSE Books. My understanding of the data is that while there is some truth that death is possible in certain circumstances after only 15 minutes suspension this is really only possible if the casualty is unconscious. Hope this helps Kevin

Posted By Smurfer According to the speaker at a recent iosh branch mtg who is on the steering group for the new work at height regs, if the mewp has a proper attachment point for a lanyard then the answer is yes. Regarding suspension trauma - you could make the lanyard short enough to prevent the individual from being able to climb/fall over the edge of the handrail, and therefore remove the risk of being suspended.