Developing a test method and criteria for assessing resistance to mechanical damage of textile elements of equipment protecting against falls from a height

To find the causes of various kinds of damages, a stand for simulating damage to the surface of elements of equipment protecting against falls from a height was developed and built. It was used to simulated damage to lanyards and webbings. Testing samples with simulated damage showed their significant influence on the resistance parameters of the equipment. A test stand for testing the impact of a sharp edge on the strength of elements of equipment protecting against falls from a height in conditions of static load was also designed and produced. To test equipment protecting against falls from a height in conditions of the operation of external destructive mechanical factors, a test stand with a cross beam was modernized: the electronic measuring system, the controlling-measuring software was updated and the surface of the cross beam were modernized. As a result criteria were developed for assessing equipment, which can be used in situations where it is in contact with potentially dangerous objects at the workstation. For those criteria, methods of testing safety lanyards were developed, textile shock absorbers, guided type fall arresters on a flexible anchorage line and wire rope and webbing slings.