Fall Protection
Passive fall safety and debris containment systems such as netting and guardrail systems provide your crew and the public below the protection they need, without requiring their active involvement, specialized training, major maintenance, or additional gear. Standard off the shelf netting and guardrail systems as well as customized solutions are available to meet your specific jobsite requirements.
Safety netting offers strength, impact resistance, and durability to increase worker confidence. Construction safety netting systems catch personnel, debris or both, and are strong and durable for indoor or outdoor use. Industrial safety nets are typically lighter but just as strong and ideal for many material handling applications.
Permanent and portable guardrail systems help keep workers a safe distance from fall hazards. Temporary guardrails can be set up quickly, and both portable and permanent guardrail systems are easily configured to accommodate your site and unique application, providing an additional layer of safety.
Netting Systems
Choosing the right netting system for your application means accommodating your environment and what you are trying to catch. Be sure to consider:
Construction nets must be heavy-duty and incorporate a UV coating to stand up to the elements outdoors. They provide debris containment, personnel fall protection or both and are available for various commercial construction builds. Industrial nets are typically lighter but just as strong and often include a flame retardant protection for added safety. They are useful for many material handling applications and available in pre-packaged or custom configurations.
The structure your system must attach to (such as structural steel, concrete floor or column) can dictate the type of specialized system required. Most of our netting systems are available with the related cable and hardware for installation to steel or concrete. It is critical to choose a system that has been precision engineered and rigorously tested for the application and structure where it will be used.
Net systems are designed to do catch falling debris, catch a fallen worker or a combination of both. Nets with a wide mesh (holes) are primarily used to catch people. Nets with a smaller mesh can handle both. And some wide mesh personnel nets are available with liners so they double as debris nets.
Meshes are available in many sizes and strengths, depending on the job. Some nets come with liners, so they catch both personnel and debris. The most common debris net mesh size is 3 mm. A typical personnel net mesh size is 87.5 mm. The diamond-shaped design dissipates strain throughout the net.
First you must decide if it is an outdoor or indoor application. Features such as UV-protected material that won't rot or mildew and/or flame retardant coatings are often mandatory depending upon your application. Typical netting materials are polypropylene and nylon. We use nylon for our personnel nets because it is 47% stronger than polypropylene, provides a softer "catch" and resists chafing and abrasion.
Designed to fit any size or shaped work space, this system is designed to catch falling personnel and an optional debris liner can be added.
Designed for use with traditional cable set-ups, this system protects workers near building edges as a guardrail, and also protects personnel below from falling debris.
Guardrail Systems
Guardrail systems need to be designed for your environment and the forces they will encounter. Portable systems also need to be easy to use and balance light weight with strength. Consider:
Systems are typically offered in either a free-standing type that eliminates surface penetration or a fixed attachment type such as bolt, weld or clamp-on. The fixed attachment type is used more often for permanent applications and the free-standing for portable scenarios.
Your system should be adjustable and adaptable to allow for changes down the line. A modular type system that allows you to add to the system over time is ideal. Select a system with various component options to allow jobsite customisation.
Free-standing systems should be lightweight and easy to transport and set-up. It must provide you the ability to install yhe system without a significant amount of training or special tools and equipment.
This free-standing system acts as a barrier preventing personnel from falling to lower levels, and can protect employees with little or no training, special maintenance or gear.
Be trained in the proper use, inspection and maintenance of your 3M fall protection gear and stay compliant to the latest safety regulations with our programs.
Need more information? Let a 3M technical expert answer your queries.