Posted By RichardC1973 Does anyone know of a reliable up to date source of information concerning suspension trauma? It is something new to me and I need to be able to explain it simply to my boss! If you are using a MEWP and wearing a harness is it good enough to say on your risk assessment that there must be two people and that in the event of someone falling overboard the emergency plan consists of the other person lowering the platform thus avoiding suspending the other waiting rescue by others? In the above situation I can't think that specifying a harness with leg loops would be necessary as the other person should be able to lower the platform quickly - does this make sense? Thanks for any help or advice. Richard

Posted By bill reilly richard HSE advice on topic para 22 on any help ? http://www.hse.gov.uk/fo...od/oc/300-399/314_20.pdf

Posted By tb Hi Richard suspension trauma is where the individual is left hanging usually still in their harness. Medical research shows that if an individual is left hanging for approximately 15 minutes, they are liable to serious injury or death. For further information I used my local ambulance service who gave a very good presentation on what it was and how to treat from a medical point of view. Hope it helps

Posted By Steve Skinner Richard, You have mail. Steve

Posted By nheathsiae Hi Richard, Work in Mobile Phone Industry so "suspension trauma" is a "killer" but having said that, been in the industry 30 years and have never heard/reported on a single case. All reported cases come from the "mountain climbing and caving" areas. They use the same "fall arrest" that we do so assume their input is valid. Problem is, person falls and is left suspended. In "suspension" the harness will probably prevent the lungs from working correctly, so normal policy is get them on the ground ASAP as they only have about 20 minutes. Dial "999", good to get them on their way, tell them "MAJOR CRUSH INJURY" they understand that, NOT SUSPENSON TRAUMA!!! If the "injured person" is still 10m up in the air, you need to get them down ASAP, most Paramedics don't do WAH!! If the fall hasn't already killed them, then the actual fall-arrest harness will constrict the blood flow to certain areas of the body, the legs are the real problem. Using a MEWP you should get them down in, as already stated 15-20 minutes. Problem is that during those 15-20 minutes of suspension "toxins" (I cannot remember which ones) will build up as blood is not flowing freely. All MEWPS MUST have a working "Emergency Descent" device, so you will get them down. You get them on the deck, release their harness and hey presto, you kill them. Massive release of built up toxins into the blood stream, mainly from the legs, not nice. If you do get them down, current advice (YOU NEED TO CHECK) is to keep them sitting upright with their knees towards the chest and not remove the harness. I renew my "WAH Rescue" next week so will see if anything has changed. Treatment is the SAME as a major crush injury, i.e. guy with steel beam across both legs!! If you are working on a fixed structure, mobile phone mast or building steel work, NOT GOOD!! If the 2m fall, that your fall arrest "ALLOWS", lots of lovely nice spikey metal in those two metres, doesn't kill you!!! Then, your work mates are faced with a rescue from heights, could explain the risks of this but think the "children have seen enough". One of the risks that most people are unaware of with Working at Height!!! SIMPLY, DON'T SLIP/FALL!! Nick

Posted By Barry D Hi RichardC A lot of conflicting and confusing comments to this thread. There is no such thing as a fall arrest harness, it is the lanyard that arrest your fall, but saying that a fall arrest lanyard should not be use in a MEWP, reason 1.5 meter lanyard, 1.5 meter fall arrest 2 meter man, you might only be 4 meters off the ground, you've hit it before its arrested your fall. The operator should be using a short fixed lanyard to form work restraint, this has two affects. 1. it stops the operator having the ability to stand on the handrail putting himself in a position of danger, 2 which is the main reason it to stop the operator being catapualted out and stricking objects ouside of the basket or even the basket itself, if the boom moves suddenly either from being struck or from driving over rough terrain or curbs. It is not neccessary to wear a harness in a scissor lift but will depend on the site rule or a task specific risk assessment. If you type into a search engine suspension trauma you will get lots of information. Hope this helps Barry

Posted By Safety officer Bit off topic but also make sure the employees have had training on how to fit the harness properly. I'm not sure if other members have seen them but there are some horrific pictures doing the rounds of some blokes meat and two veg mangled through not fitting his harness properly then falling.

Posted By Stephen Sherratt Why the HSE U-Turn? and how did they form their conclusions? See the following link: http://www.suspensiontrauma.info/faq/uk-hse.php It would seem that out of 60 papers they looked at only 7 were considered as evidence for the report and I quote the above sites critical comment “It is clearly stupid to ask for a blind control study of falls into harnesses, as you would have to compare "people who fall into a harness" with "people who do not fall into a harness" without any of the study participants knowing which group they were in!” The HSE can change the names if they like but Orthostatic Intolerance is a real thing and in Harnesses and thankfully extremely rare, but lets just stand back for a moment, and on a different level the whole subject of Suspension Trauma was a great opportunity for me to galvanise our lads attention with “Your Harness can Kill You” and more importantly with our Project Engineers “It’s your last resort” Since 2005 and probably more importantly we as a company have seen a serious reduction in the use of our harnesses, they are no longer just pulled on in casual use and we use more MEWPs, Towers and Cherry Pickers with harnesses being used as restraint. Our people think before using a harness and they expect and require that the planning is in place along with the independent means of rescue. However all that doesn’t stop the idiots for causing danger and it’s a great opportunity to redouble the key messages to the Harness Users. I am concerned by the HSE Guidance bullet point one as advice to First Aiders. I have agreed with our Directors to carry on as before at least in the short term and they have also agreed to me running another rescue course. I have taken up the issue of Orthostatic Intolerance with our First Aid Trainer and we will move on from there. Steve

Posted By Stephen Sherratt Many thanks Andy, I was beginning feel vulnerable with my head above the parapet! Suspect that the real issue is medical complexity – I have studied the medical papers and whilst they all agree to the existence of Orthostatic Intolerance it is a complex medical condition and perhaps our First Aiders and Harness Rescuers need a separate new module of training? Finally if cases of Orthostatic Intolerance are needed then read the abstract and letters on the Emergency Medical Journal (EMJ) web site for the Paper: Suspension Trauma by Lee and Porter 2007 http://emj.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/24/4/237 Regards and thanks again Stephen

Posted By Stephen Sherratt Many Dave thanks for your input and sadly as you say the debate has to close, your reference to funding is worrying. However if we are quoting the Immortal Memory of Lord Nelson then may I very respectfully offer: “When I am without orders and unexpected occurrences arrive I shall always act as I think the honour and glory of my King and Country demand. But in case signals can neither be seen or perfectly understood, no captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy” Steve

Posted By Safety110 There is a document produced by NASC. I shall send it on to you. Safety110