[TowerTalk] How to Clip on with a Fall Arrest Lanyard

[Dick Green WC1M]

Excellent video series, and much-needed by the amateur radio community. But I have these questions and observations:

1. Far be it from me to question the experts at OSHA, but I'd like to know how they calculated the 5,000 lb requirement for the fall arrest attachment point. And what are the actual breaking strengths of Rohn 25, 45 and 55 cross braces and welds? I ask because I clip my Y-lanyard onto the cross braces. I have a Y-lanyard with large gorilla hooks, but they're difficult to open for attachment/removal, which increases fatigue -- especially, in my hand muscles, which sometimes cramp after a lot of clipping/unclipping (not a good thing!) So I switched to a Black Diamond Via Ferrata. This is a Y-lanyard designed to clip/unclip to a cable running along a rock face. The hooks are much smaller and much easier to operate, but they're not large enough to clip around the tower legs. In addition, the Y-lanyard is much lighter and the lanyards have elastic woven in so they retract a bit and stay out of the way much better than my Y-lanyard with gorilla hooks. For me, this decision is a trade-off between the possibly greater safety of the tower leg versus considerable extra fatigue using the gorilla hooks.

2. W3YQ says always clip the fall-arrest lanyard above your waist. I understand the wisdom of this -- it reduces the distance of a potential fall, which could significantly reduce a resulting injury. But it also increases the number of times you have to clip/unclip by at least 1/3, maybe more. This causes more fatigue. Again, there's a trade-off. I've been keeping the clip points at my knees, but I'll switch to my waist on the next climb to see just how much trade-off there is fatigue-wise.

3. As W3YQ points out, one way around these problems is to climb with your position lanyard around the tower. But I could swear that I've seen advice never to do that -- i.e., don't rely on the positioning lanyard when climbing and always thread it through the tower at your work position. W3YQ says it's OK because you'll always fall backwards, but I don't buy that. Your feet can definitely slip off a rung. I've had one foot do it several times, even with heavy lug-sole boots. The positioning lanyard method is also problematic with large obstructions like a TIC ring. Even if I had a seat-hook like W3YQ's, I wonder whether it's long enough to clip over a TIC ring, and also wonder how it would be to climb over the ring (a tricky move at best) with the positioning lanyard around the tower after it's been moved above the ring. FWIW, while I don't have a seat-hook, I do have a 6-inch nylon rock climbing strap attached to my chest ring with carabiners at each end that I can clip onto a tower rung instead of deploying the positioning lanyard when I need a quick rest while climbing or when I'm threading the positioning lanyard through the tower at the work position.

4. All this further convinces me that a safety cable is the best way to climb a tower. I plan to install one on my Rohn 55 tower provided I can find one with enough clearance to pass through the three TIC rings on my tower.

73, Dick WC1M

On 9/5/20, 2:46 PM, "Tim Duffy" <k3lr at k3lr.com> wrote:

    A cross braze (horizontal or diagonal) is not strong enough for a fall
    arrest attachment. You must attach to a vertical tower member.

    W3YQ (a trained and professional tower climber also certified in high angle
    rescue) covers this very topic in his excellent five part tower safety video
    series.
    Here is part one:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzn4MEOxVpI

    73
    Tim K3LR

    -----Original Message-----
    From: TowerTalk [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of
    Richard Thorne
    Sent: Saturday, September 5, 2020 1:50 PM
    To: tower and HF Antenna Construction Topics.
    Subject: [TowerTalk] How to Clip on with a Fall Arrest Lanyard

    As I was climbing my 55g tower this morning, I got to thinking.

    I normally just clip on one, the other or both fall arrest lanyard's to 
    a cross brace.  I always have at least one connected to the tower during 
    a climb, up or down, and when I'm attached during work.

    Is the cross brace strong enough to hold if I were to fall and the fall 
    arrest lanyard does it's job, or do I need to consider going around a 
    tower leg above the weld of a brace?

    Just curious.

    Great day to climb.

    Rich - N5ZC

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