1. Introduction
1.1 Scope
It is widely acknowledged that when personal protection equipment is activated during a fall, some of the energy of the fall is absorbed by the human body. When conducting dynamic fall protection equipment tests using rigid weight, there is a need to compensate for the fact that a human is not involved. Historically, a multiplier of 1.4 has been used to compensate for the energy abosorbing qualities of the human body in rigid weight tests. This standard has been applied by all testing agencies, governing bodies, and standards organizations.
It has been suggested that innovations in personal fall protection equipment may have rendered the 1.4 multiplier inaccurate in comparing human to rigid weight drop tests. Through this report, Gravitec Systems, Inc., has conducted testing to investigate whether the 1.4 multiplier is accurate. As such, this report presents data from the tests and suggests an updated multiplier to reflect current fall arrest technologies.
This test was funded and conducted by Gravitec Systems, Inc., for the purposes set forth by the ANSI Z359.1 Committee chairman...
To read Gravitec's complete Material Testing Report for the 1.4 Multiplier, click on the PDF to the right.
To read Gravitec's Material Testing Report for the 1.4 Multiplier as printed in the American Society of Safety Engineer's publication "By Design," click on the PDF to the right.
NEWS
Material Testing Report: 1.4 Multiplier Test
December 11, 2007
Movie Downloads
1.4 Multiplier Drop TestsPDF Downloads
Material Testing Report: 1.4 Multiplier Test
By Design: A Technical Publication of ASSE's Engineering Practice Specialty, Volume 7, Number 1
