Northern Strands fall protection division was asked to perform an almost impossible task. The goal was to provide fall protection for workers that had to stand on top of food processing equipment to clean long sections of stainless steel.

During the initial onsite assessment, we realized we were going to have multiple issues trying to design a system for this particular area of the plant.  Due to the age and condition of the roof structure, it was going to be difficult to attach any fall protection equipment to the structure of the building.  When attaching any type of fall protection to a building it is imperative that the building can withstand any additional loads put on it which includes the fall protection system itself and any loads applied from a fall that could occur once the system is in use.  Another issue encountered was the fact that the area we were going to be working in had a lot of food processing equipment in a small area. With such a small footprint to work with, we recognized that installing a fall protection system that would best meet the needs of the client would be a difficult task to execute.

Due to the lack of clearance we had in the area we knew that a wire rope lifeline would not be a great fit for this situation as we needed to limit the fall distance a worker would encounter in the case of a fall.  Rigid rail was going to be our best option as it helps with clearance issues and gives the client an option for rescue if a worker were to fall.

Our design team was able to design stanchions that would allow our rigid rail system to cover all the areas that were required by the client and still be large enough to support the fall protection system ensuring the system met and exceeded all applicable industry standards.

The Northern Strands installation crew was able to layout the system so the client was still able to use and maintain all the equipment in the area which was a huge hurdle to cross.  With some very complicated rigging, the crew was able to install the stanchions and fall protection system promptly so the client was able to get up and running in a short amount of time.

The Northern Strands team was happy to take on this challenge and successfully help this client out.  Instead of saying “it can’t be done”, the team dug in and found a way to “get it done”.  Doing whatever we can to help a client stay safe is our number one priority and this was one instance where we had to get creative to meet our goal. Happy clients are always well worth the struggle.

Before the rigid rail system is installed.

After picture with rigid rail system installed