>I was recently working with someone who got chewed out for having a tie-line safety on his wrench. Someone with more seniority at the venue thought it was unsafe.
Sounds like someone having a bad day, or someone who has had a very particular experience with a tie-line tether. I personally find that you're more likely to trip over a tether to your belt than anything or get snagged on something, but it could be this person was also the near-victim of someone who forgot to tie off, had a really chintzy knot, or they used one of those 50-cent "carabiners" from the hardware store where the latches always
break in the open position. Some people are also fans of doing a wrist-sized tie-line loop off of the wrench handle and do not actually clip it to anything. This is not ideal for obvious reasons, particularly when you stick the wrench in your back pocket and now it isn't protected by anything at all.
>I'd also argue that clipping whatever lanyard off to your belt loop is probably not great. Unless Levi's is rating their belt loops now? I feel like the tenuous rating on tie line has to exceed the stitching on pants.
I've cited the relevant
OSHA codes below and to the best of my knowledge
OSHA doesn't dictate anything about tool lanyards or usage beyond that your employees should be protected from falling objects. I believe there are some
ANSI standards but these are more for manufacturers and not for in-the-field regulation.
>What do you use as a lanyard for specifically your small hand tools? I feel like drills and drivers are another whole discussion/survey.
Sometimes
tieline, sometimes I use my
Ty-flot Quickswitch belt pouch with locking wrist clips. The Quickswitch is great, but somewhere around 2500x the cost of a
bit of
tieline. When I have the Quickswitch, I usually tether a screwdriver, an adjustable wrench, and a utility blade. Anything else gets a "loose tool" shoutout to the
ground crew. There a lot of other people here who work on shows in arenas or really loud load-ins where shouting doesn't work though. Got to be mindful that the people below can hear you and have walked back.
Depending on how long I'm working at that spot, I may rope it off with some danger tape/signage. More common when I was an installer on construction sites, less so while working on production calls.
Follow up questions:
>Where do you clip off to?
Belt or belt loop.
>If homemade, how did you finish the ends of your phone cord/tie line (knot, swage, heat shrink)
Sometimes I also just tie a loop in the end of my
tieline, thread it through my belt, and
drop the wrench through the end loop.
>Are your clips or carabiners actually rated?
Yes, I have climbing carabiners.
>Do you have any other hardware in the mix (like an added jump ring on the little tiny hole on the ratcheting focus tool)?
With my Quickswitch
system I have some other tools that have tether points attached to them. Ty-Flot sells a bunch of different odds and ends for this designed for tools that are otherwise not easy to attach to like screwdrivers.
>What's the stated rating on the commercial lanyard you use?
My Quickswitch is rated for 6 lbs. Really, anything more than a couple pounds heavier than that shouldn't be tied off to your body because if you
drop them 30" they'll pull you off balance when they fall. Imagine what having a gallon of water (8.3lbs) tied off to you does when the
lanyard catches it.
>Do you actually replace your lanyard if it's had an impact?
No.
IMO, wrenches are not nearly heavy enough to have destructive forces on standard-grade
tieline leashes. Things like fall protection lanyards and
SRL's are very different and are engineered to softly self-destruct upon first impact.
>Do you safety tools like box end wrenches and sockets that didn't come with an easy attachment point, and how?
Sockets and other loose tools/hardware get a shoutout to the
ground crew, though generally I avoid them unless they make a particular task go much faster. If you ever find yourself working on Titan rockets, loose hardware is a
good way to cause a broken arrow nuclear incident. Back in 1980 a crew was using an 8lbs
socket for routine maintenance at the top of the missile.
Socket fell off the tool and bounced down to the bottom of the silo before puncturing the skin and leaking fuel that eventually erupted.
=========
Relevant
OSHA codes:
1926.451(h)
"Falling object protection."
1926.451(h)(1)
In addition to wearing hardhats each employee on a
scaffold shall be provided with additional protection from falling
hand tools, debris, and other small objects through the installation of toeboards, screens, or guardrail systems, or through the erection of debris nets, catch platforms, or canopy structures that contain or deflect the falling objects. When the falling objects are too large, heavy or massive to be contained or deflected by any of the above-listed measures, the employer shall place such potential falling objects away from the
edge of the surface from which they could fall and shall secure those materials as necessary to prevent their falling.
1926.451(h)(2)
Where there is a danger of tools, materials, or equipment falling from a
scaffold and striking employees below, the following provisions apply:
1926.451(h)(2)(i)
The area below the
scaffold to which objects can fall shall be barricaded, and employees shall not be permitted to enter the hazard area; or
1926.451(h)(2)(ii)
A toeboard shall be erected along the
edge of platforms more than 10 feet (3.1 m) above lower levels for a distance sufficient to protect employees below, except on float (ship) scaffolds where an edging of 3/4 x 1 1/2 inch (2 x 4 cm) wood or equivalent may be used in lieu of toeboards;
1926.451(h)(2)(iii)
Where tools, materials, or equipment are piled to a height higher than the top
edge of the toeboard, paneling or screening extending from the toeboard or
platform to the top of the guardrail shall be erected for a distance sufficient to protect employees below; or
1926.451(h)(2)(iv)
A guardrail
system shall be installed with openings small enough to prevent passage of potential falling objects; or
1926.451(h)(2)(v)
A canopy structure, debris net, or catch
platform strong enough to withstand the impact forces of the potential falling objects shall be erected over the employees below.
1926.451(h)(3)
Canopies, when used for falling object protection, shall comply with the following criteria:
1926.451(h)(3)(i)
Canopies shall be installed between the falling object hazard and the employees.
1926.451(h)(3)(ii)
When canopies are used on suspension scaffolds for falling object protection, the
scaffold shall be equipped with additional independent support lines equal in number to the number of points supported, and equivalent in strength to the strength of the suspension ropes.
1926.451(h)(3)(iii)
Independent support lines and suspension ropes shall not be attached to the same points of anchorage.
1926.501(c)
"Protection from falling objects." When an employee is exposed to falling objects, the employer shall have each employee wear a
hard hat and shall implement one of the following measures:
1926.501(c)(1)
Erect toeboards, screens, or guardrail systems to prevent objects from falling from higher levels; or,
1926.501(c)(2)
Erect a canopy structure and keep potential fall objects far enough from the
edge of the higher
level so that those objects would not go over the
edge if they were accidentally displaced; or,
1926.501(c)(3)
Barricade the area to which objects could fall, prohibit employees from entering the barricaded area, and keep objects that may fall far enough away from the
edge of a higher
level so that those objects would not go over the
edge if they were accidentally displaced.