One of the most asked questions in Fall Arrest Training is, "Do my fall arrest harness straps need to be tight?".   Yes, it is extremely important that your harness straps be tight and your harness fit properly.  A degloving injury is one type of injury that can result from improper fitting of a fall arrest harness.   Which is an extremely painful injury. 

How do you know if your harness leg straps are fitted properly?  One method is the Hand/Fist Test.

To determine if your fall arrest harness leg straps are adjusted properly, follow these basic steps:
1. Make your hand flat.
2. Insert your hand between your leg and the leg strap until the strap is across your wrist.
3. Make your hand into a fist.
4. Try to pull your fist in between the leg strap and your leg.

Did fist make it through? If so your leg straps need to be tightened until you cannot pull your fist out.  If you weren’t able to complete step 2 above then your leg straps are actually too tight.  As you may know, properly fitting the full body harness leg straps is just one small part of using fall arrest equipment.

To receive more information on proper fall arrest harness fitting, fall arrest equipment or fall protection training please contact the Northern Strands Safety Training Division at 306-242-7073, by email training@northernstrands.com or visit our website http://www.northernstrands.com/training.aspx 

Attached is our recently completed Safety Training Brochure.   This brochure contains information on safety training courses for the construction, mining and emergency responder industries.

Northern Strands Safety Training Brochure.pdf (2.34 mb) 

In addition to training, Northern Strands Engineered Fall Protection Division offers a variety of fall protection systems, solutions and services. Custom-engineered solutions can be designed to suit specific requirements.   For more information you can call 306-242-7073, email lifelines@northernstrands.com or visit our website http://www.northernstrands.com/fall-protection.aspx

Northern Strands is proudly Saskatoon, Saskatchewan owned and operated.