Abstract Introduction Falls from height are one of the leading causes of occupational injuries in most countries. A way of protecting workers against falls from height is to choose personal fall arrest systems, which implies the wear of a safety harness. Following a fall arrest, motionless suspension in a full-body harness can be hazardous and lead to death due to suspension trauma syndrome, which has long been known. This paper investigates the perception of discomfort, the pressure exerted by the straps on the body and the evolution of physiological parameters in 10-minute motionless suspension. Materials and Methods For this study, 30 male and 30 female were suspended from the dorsal D-ring, in four different commercial harnesses (one X, one Y and two H configuration harnesses). During suspension, participants rated their perceived discomfort on a visual analog scale for different body regions every 2 minutes and physiological parameters were recorded continuously throughout the suspension. Pressures exerted by the straps were measured for a short period using pressure mats. Results and discussion The results show that H-configuration harnesses, which are very common in the construction industry and often the cheapest models, are perceived to be 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 for prolonged motionless suspension. The Y-configuration harness seems to be the best performer in suspension. The X-configuration creates a constriction effect around the neck during motionless suspension, which causes a significant increase in heart rate and decrease in cerebral oximetry.

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 -config-uration 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.

Rebar installers are exposed to fall hazard when installing reinforcing steel bars (rebars) in walls. They shall use fall arrest system composed of a harness and a connecting link. The belt was traditionally used. 4 types of belts and harnesses were evaluated for their perceived comfort and safety by 12 subjects while doing prescribed tasks in walls and on the ground. One harness is as comfortable as the work positioning belt and as a belt with a subpelvic strap. The model of harness with a subpelvic was less comfortable at the shoulder level. The subpelvic strap was not adding comfort in suspension compared to a floating work positioning belt. A basic full body harness with a floating work positioning belt is a simple and affordable solution. The use of a fall arrest system with a harness is acceptable to the workers.

Rebar installers are exposed to fall hazard when installing reinforcing steel bars (rebars) in walls. They shall use fall arrest system composed of a harness and a connecting link. 4 combinations, 2 connecting links (lanyard with energy absorber or self-retracting lanyard SRL) and 2 attachment points on the harness (dorsal or sternal) were evaluated for their perceived comfort and safety by 12 subjects while doing prescribed tasks in walls. All combinations were comfortable and safe. No statistical differences were observed between the dorsal and the sternal attachment point. For the global appreciation and the rank, the 1,5m lanyard with an energy absorber is preferred to the selfretracting lanyard.

Arborists are cutting branches of trees. Work methods and work positioning systems were reviewed to increase the fall protection without increase the burden of the work. Experimental evaluations were done to measure the efficiency, the reliability and the user-friendliness of several individual work positioning systems and several fall arrest systems. The efficiency and the reliability were evaluated by mechanical tests done in laboratory. The user-friendliness evaluations by arborists were performed in controlled environment in urban forests and parks. Their psychophysical perceptions and their opinions were collected with questionnaires and semi-directed interviews. For harness, 5 sub protocols were executed. The sit harness was the reference and the full body harness identified is as comfortable as the sit harness with an increase in safety and comfort.

In the context of the recent large scale adoption of the ISO 9000 system of quality standards, the objectives of the present empirical study are twofold : 1) to evaluate whether the ISO 9000 certification process has an impact on health and safety (H&S) performance, and 2) to analyze the underlying OHS changes in internal dynamics related to the ISO 9000 certification process. The results of the statistical analysis of certified and uncertified firms (n = 317 for each) did not show a significant difference in OHS performance between both types of firms. Even if ISO/OHS integration was not done, qualitative data reveal that 64 % of the surveyed firms had revised their preventive maintenance procedures and 39 % had done the same for their preventive inspection procedures in the months following certification. Furthermore, the certification process had a positive impact on internal communications in two firms in three in which the respondents noted an increase in the frequency of meetings, a better follow-up on decisions, as well as an increased sense of responsibility of employees toward their tasks.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a gaff adapted for chromated copper arsenate (CCA) in order to improve the linemen's psychophysical perception of pole climbability compared to the standard gaff used by Hydro-Quebec's staff. Three red pine poles were selected in a range of wood hardness where the linemen's acceptability level is around 30 to 50 percent (hard poles) and three others in a range showing generally over 80 percent of acceptance (soft poles). In a first series of tests, psychophysical data collected from 16 line workers showed that the CCA-adapted gaff provided a significant but limited improvement (10% to 15%) in the perception for the hard poles. Conversely, the use of the CCA-adapted design in conjunction with the soft poles led to a slight but significant deterioration in the linemen's appreciation. These soft pre-selected poles, which met total acceptance with the standard gaff, were found to be unacceptable by about one-third of the linemen when the CCA-adapted gaff was used. In a second series of tests, the same workers were sequentially equipped with an instrumented climber from each gaff design to record gaff penetration and gaff impact values. The results confirmed the possibility of using a combination of these physical parameters for estimating the linemen's perception when assessing the hard poles. However, the situation reported by the linemen for the soft poles cannot be followed with the same level of discrimination. In a third series of tests, a mechanical device that directly provides a climbability index was used to assess the poles. As expected, the measured values showed trends very close to those observed with the instrumented climbers. From these results, it is obvious that a third parameter such as gaff withdrawal force should be measured to use the setup for discriminating the gaff effect over these pre-selected soft poles.

The use of new, technology does riot eliminate all professional risk. This exploratory research is intended to throw some light on the different strategic factors governing the adoption and use of new technologies likely to help reduce professional risk and industrial injury. Its operational objectives are: 1) to clarify the various perceived strategic benefits of new technology that differentiate significantly between effective and less effective organizations; 2) to identify significant differences in technological competencies and resources, especially the differences ill new technological equipment based an HSW performance levels; 3) to identify significant differences in the decision- making pi processes leading to the adoption of new technologies; and 4) to analyze significant differences in organizational capacity (other than technological capacity) Between effective and less effective organizations in HSW tterms The paper therefore describes the choices mid conditions in tr which the introduction of new technology can help prevent industrial injury. The data were drawn from a sample of 140 companies in the metal products manufacturing sector.

Résumé L'utilisation des nouvelles technologies n'élimine pas tous les risques professionnels. Cette recherche exploratoire vise àapporter quelques éclaircissements relativement aux différents facteurs stratégiques d'adoption et d'implantation de nouvelles technologies susceptibles de contribuer positivement à la réduction des risques de lésions professionnelles. Les objectifs opérationnels de cette recherche consistent à: 1) préciser les différents avantages stratégiques perçus, reliés aux nouvelles technologies et qui différencient de façon significative les entreprises performantes de celles qui ne le sont pas; 2) identifier les différences significatives de compétences et de ressources technologiques et particulièrement les différences dans les nouveaux équipements technologiques selon les niveaux de performance en SST; 3) identifier également les différences significatives dans les processus décisionnels d'adoption de nouvelles technologies; et 4) analyser les différences significatives dans les capacités organisationnelles autres que technologiques entre les entreprises performantes et non performantes en SST. Le présent article décrit donc les choix et les conditions dans lesquels l'introduction des nouvelles technologies contribue à la prévention des lésions professionnelles. Les données proviennent d'un échantillon de 140 entreprises du secteur de la fabrication des produits de métal . Abstract The use of new technology does not eliminate all professional risk. This exploratory research is intended to throw some light on the different strategic factors governing the adoption and use of new technologies likely to help reduce professional risk and industrial injury. Its operational objectives are: 1) to clarify the various perceived strategic benefits of new technology that differentiate significantly between effective and less effective organizations; 2) to identify significant differences in technological competencies and resources, especially the differences in new technological equipment based on HSW performance levels; 3) to identify significant differences in the decision‐ making processes leading to the adoption of new technologies; and 4) to analyze significant differences in organizational capacity (other than technological capacity) between effective and less effective organizations in HSW terms. The paper therefore describes the choices and conditions in which the introduction of new technology can help prevent industrial injury. The data were drawn from a sample of 140 companies in the metal products manufacturing sector .