safety harness

[deckhand]

Hi,
I'm just about to reboard a 13m x 2m deck and, as the deck is at first floor level, I'm concerned about safety when working . I've had a bit of a look around but so far have been unable to find any suitable harness or any other apparatus which would safely break any fall.
Any suggestions re suitable apparatus and availabilty?
Is it possible to rent this equipment ? I will only need it for a couple of weeks.
Regards/Pk

[silentC]

Your local hire place should be able to provide safety gear. Are you worried about going over the edge or between the joists? Maybe all you need is a temporary guard rail around the perimeter.

[Doughboy]

Pk if it has not already got a rail around the outer edge the structure is not legal and if you are worried about falling through all you need to do is get a couple of sheets of 9mm ply rip them in half and lay them temporarily on the joists and work fro them till you have enough decking laid to work from.

Just a tip. If you need to butt join two boards make sure they end on a joist and try and mix up where the joints are to give an even look to the deck. Skew nail and ALWAYS pre-drill the ends of the boards to prevent splitting. Disregard this if you know already.:D

Take care and have fun.

Pete

[Eastie]

The main questions are covered above - is it over the edge of straight down between the joists?

Many people select a harness not knowing there's at least a dozen different ways of setting up a harness system - the main question is fall prevention or fall arrest?

If it's fall arrest, you need the anchor point (must be tied off above your shoulders and the lanyard setup taking into account any expanding shock absorber). Another question if using a fall arrest setup - how are you going to get down and out of the harness if you do fall?

If you inetend to tie a rope off for fall arrest, it's a good idea that the structural member be able to withstanding 15kN. If you intend on using it for travel restraint it's only 6kN.

All up, using temporary decking boards, guardrail edge protection and working your way backwards from the leading edge is far safer and typically far simpler that setting up a safe harness system. If you do use temporary ply or planks, don't have more than 200mm of the ends unsuported and temorarily screw them down to prevent movement.

[BobL]

If it's fall arrest, you need the anchor point . . .

DO NOT repeat DO NOT use the tow ball / trailer hitch on a car for this purpose !

If you are re-boarding, is it possible to remove only small sections of the old boards as you place the new ones down?

[silentC]

It's a bit tricky with the temporary decking idea because the best way to lay a deck is to lay every fourth or fifth board to a string/chalk line and then infill using wedges to adjust the gap. If you do it that way though (and trust me, you'll be glad you did) you can walk on the decking you have already laid. Once you've laid every fourth or fifth board, you will have a gap between them of between 300-400mm. You're unlikely to fall through it but it will hurt if you try ;)

[deckhand]

Thanks everyone for your detailed suggestions.

I don't foresee any specific problems, it's just that I have a healthy respect for Mr Murphy and his law.

The outer edge railing is in place. I'm just replacing the boards.

I like the idea of laying temporary ply sheets and also laying every fourth or fifth board to a string/chalk line and then infill using wedges to adjust the gap.

Regards/PK