10-08-22 Insight Issue 8

White Paper: Horizontal Lifeline System Critical Components - What you need to know.

Synopsis

For many years the horizontal lifeline industry has

suffered from the substitution of several components
for “cheaper” alternatives. As we will detail in this
document this cost saving can be both safety critical
and be potentially financially catastrophic, and the
aim is to increase the knowledge within the industry
as to the reasons why certain requirements are
placed on the installer and the end client by
manufacturers and through legislation.

Often the requirement to use manufacturer

components is seen purely as a means to increase
profits for the manufacturer. Sometimes this is the
case of course, but the content of this paper is purely
limited to those components deemed as Critical
System Components through specification and the
subsequent testing of the systems.

The information contained within this paper is

pertinent to the entire industry, but of course you should verify it with individual manufacturers as to their specific system requirements.
Within this document we shall refer to EN standards and BS standards but use them as an example of standards and their requirements.

The international community have various standards and it is not our intention to place a unilateral assumption on all standards across the
globe, but to explain the technical reasons why components should not be modified or substituted. In our professional opinion, regardless
of the content of the standards the technical and engineering principles apply.

Contents

What is a Critical Component? ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2

Why are they Critical to the system? ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 2
The Most Common Substitution .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 2
Travelling Device Omission ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
What would it mean to you as an installer if you substitute a Critical Component? ........................................................................................................ 4
In Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5

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What is a Critical Component?

When testing to EN795:2012 and CEN/TS 16415:2013, the entire system is tested, and all components used within the test are classed as
system critical and are therefore not able to be substituted for alternatives.

The components included within a Horizontal Lifeline as system critical are as follows:

1. Absorbing Posts

2. In Line Absorbers

3. Swage Terminations including tensioners and

in line swages

4. Intermediate Cable Guides

5. Corner Assemblies

6. Cable

7. Travelling Connection Device

Why
Why are they
they Critical
Critical to the system?
system?

The reasons that they are critical to the performance of the lifeline are numerous, but notably through manufacturer design, and through
testing under EN795:2012 and CEN/TS 16415:2013 the performance of the tested system relies on the individual performance of each separate
component, and how that component interacts with the adjacent one(s).

This is also highlighted in Section 5.7 of BS 7883:2019.

5.7 Obligations of the system designer

b) ensure the compatibility of assembled parts of the anchor system, including carrying out or arranging for such testing,
where appropriate, to ensure compatibility;

By altering any of the components you are effectively altering the interactions and the effect can be accumulative.

The Most Co
Common Substitution

The easiest to explain in terms of the effect of a substitution, and the most commonly
substituted is the cable used in the system.

Every cable manufacturer will construct their cable slightly differently, even though the
specification of the cable may be the same. For example, 8mm 7x7 316 Stainless Steel
Cable is the most widely used specification of cable across the world in horizontal lifelines.

The construction of these cables differs from manufacturer to manufacturer depending

on the lay length of the cable.

Cable Lay refers to the lay length or length of twist or to the method and type of
lay of cables, sometimes known as cabling. Lay length is defined as the distance
required to complete one revolution of the strand around the diameter of the
core.

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NETHERLANDS : Industrieweg 11, 4214 KZ Vuren
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 By altering the angle β this will then alter the lay length. This alteration will
cause the physical properties of the cable to alter, as the amount of material
per metre will alter.

This in turn will alter the absorption potential of the cable, and as a result will
alter the end loads of the system.

Without taking the “new” system through the rigorous testing required there
is no way of knowing whether the predicted end loads through software
calculations are within the 19% of actual tested end loads as required under the standards.

There are also different lay types, which will also alter the properties of the cable.

Travelling Device Omission

The next most common issue with lifeline installations is the failure to
provide the travelling device with the installation.

Why is this critical? Simple, the system is tested WITH the travelling
device, and the load applied to the cable through dynamic and static
testing is applied to the travelling device.

In the case of the Roof Angel device this will mean a difference of
approximately 2mm load point (karabiner only) to 64mm load spread
(with the RA-3001).

Although this does not seem like a problem to most people, the
omission of the travelling device means that one of the components
used in the test is not included in the system installation.

Additionally, the use of the travelling device ensures that the user is offered 100% connection throughout their traversing of the system,
meaning that the risk of fall is dramatically reduced as they are not required to disconnect at any time.

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As stated in BS7883:2019 Section 5.1

“The system designer should not introduce features which expose the user to unnecessary risk or other nuisance factors, e.g. a
system where the user has to first disconnect their lanyard to bypass an obstruction and then reconnect the lanyard which exposes
them to a risk of falling.”

What
What would it mean
mean to you as an installer
installer if you substitute a Critical Co
Component?
mponent?

BS 7883:2019 states

5.8 Anchor system modification – system designer responsibilities

The system designer should not make any changes or modifications to the anchor
system outside of the manufacturer of the anchor system’s specification and
design limitations, e.g. structural anchors; base material; structural limitations,
without the manufacturer’s written approval.
Where elements are added or changes made to the anchor system, the
manufacturer should ensure, either directly or indirectly, that the added elements
and/or modified anchor system are retested to ensure that performance is not
adversely affected to the satisfaction of any notified body or third-party test
laboratory responsible for the original certification.

Once a component is substituted the resultant system is now a new system, outside of the
tested system criteria. This means under the rule of law that the company that is effectively
the manufacturer of the new system becomes 100% liable for the system.

Therefore, the original documentation, warranties, insurances and prediction software are no longer applicable, and all of these things are
therefore required to be provided by the company acting as the new manufacturer.

As a minimum the following would be required to be compliant.

1. EN795:2012 Testing

2. CEN/TS 16415:2013 Testing

3. Product Liability Insurance

4. Professional Indemnity Insurance

5. Public Liability Insurance

6. Horizontal Lifeline Prediction Software

7. Technical Folder Submission to the Certified Body

8. Technical Manual for the system

9. Installation Manual for the system

10. Serial Number / Batch Number traceability

11. Quality Management Systems

The estimated cost of the testing and software is c.£150,000, insurances are an additional estimated £20,000 per year depending on the
information provided to the underwriters, and the rest is labour costs to write the manuals and have them translated to the country of use if
required. Overall, the cost reduction of the cable (as an example) from £3.00 to £1.90 would mean (over 3 years) the installation of 191km of
cable systems to be installed to break even, for a saving on an average 100m system of £110.00.

www.bettersafeinternational.com
NETHERLANDS : Industrieweg 11, 4214 KZ Vuren
UK : Unit 1 Cotton Farm, Middlewich Road, Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, CW4 7ET
In Conclusion

Horizontal Lifelines are one of the highest levels of safety we can provide – safety against risk to life.

From studying the standards in place across the world, it is clear that the components used are all of a critical nature, they all play a part in
the overall performance of the installed system and should not be modified or substituted unless the required testing is performed.

The potential savings are so small in comparison to the cost of system modification and the financial and physical risk of a system failure that
it seems counter intuitive to change the system in any way.

Need advice? Call Bettersafe International on (UK) +44 (0) 1260 217 437 (Europe) + 31 (0) 183 820 280

www.bettersafeinternational.com
NETHERLANDS : Industrieweg 11, 4214 KZ Vuren
UK : Unit 1 Cotton Farm, Middlewich Road, Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, CW4 7ET