Engineered Single Point Anchors: A Custom FallProof Systems Project

FallProof single point anchors provide a cost effective fall protection in manufacturing plants, distribution centers, steel mills, and other industrial facilities. Typical applications for single point anchors include manufacturing equipment maintenance, routine maintenance on elevated equipment, heavy equipment manufacturing, and processing equipment in food manufacturing. Other applications include access to tops of storage tanks, safe access to security cameras and other equipment mounted near a roof edge. Single point anchors also provided fall protection for workers where ceiling features such as pipes or air ducts prevent the installation of long run horizontal lifelines and rigid track systems. An often overlooked use of SPAs is to provide an anchor for a rescue and retrieval system which is required by OSHA as part of a complete fall protection plan. The single point anchor is a versatile fall protection application that offers a variety of solutions for different industries.

Single Point Anchor Applications

Single point anchors, or SPAs, when combined with self-retracting lifelines, or SRLs, are a versatile way to provide point of access fall arrest for the employee. FallProof SPAs are engineered to meet specific building or structure requirements. Where needed, additional supports can be installed to mitigate the reaction loads into building structures. Our single point anchors are a step up from your typical “off the shelf units” that you find with many manufacturers or safety distributors. FallProof anchors are specifically designed and engineered to assure worker safety and compliance. Each FallProof anchor installation will be accompanied by a stamped engineered drawing and are available in Stainless Steel, Galvanized or Coated Finishes.

FallProof Anchors meet all Safety Standards and complies with US OSHA 1910, ANSI Z359.6 for Engineered Fall Protection.

Design and Engineering

Late last year FallProof completed design, engineering and installation of single point anchors for two large bottling facilities of a National U.S. Food and Beverage company. The anchors were combined with a rigid rail track system to provide a complete engineered fall protection solution for the overhead conveyor systems used to transport bottled goods around the plant. Because of the support structure for the conveyors, continuous protection could not be provided solely by the track system. The SPAs were used to “bridge the gaps” to enable 100% tie off to all workers exposed to the risk of working at height in the facility. In addition to the conveyors, SPAs were installed in many areas that needed Fall Arrest and Retrieval Systems over and inside plant production machinery.

The Project

The project began with an extensive engineering survey of each plant conducted by Fallproof engineers working with company engineering and safety personnel. The survey was designed to identify fall hazards and present alternative methods of mitigating each hazard. In many cases with the plant production machinery, traditional fall arrest systems such as horizontal cable life lines would not work because of inadequate total fall distance clearance. In other areas, rigid rail systems would not work because mounting the rail into the ceiling of the building was obstructed by pipes, ducts, conduit, fans and other items that could not be moved or eliminated.

After extensive back and forth with the company’s engineers, an optimal solution for each hazard was agreed on. Placing specialized engineered SPAs in strategic locations in the ceiling of the building and overtop plant production equipment solved the obstruction problem. Some areas required an engineered anchor with one or two tie-off points fabricated for the employee and a separate anchor for a retrieval system to lower and lift an employee into and out of the plant machinery from above.

As part of the design and engineering process, shop and construction drawings were prepared. Once the drawings were formally approved, equipment was procured and fabricated. Installation work was scheduled to accommodate plant activities, including nights and weekends where necessary to minimize disruptions to normal operations. Near the end of the project, user training was conducted on all systems installed. The client was provided with a complete set of as built drawings for future reference.

We understand that this customer is very happy with the Fall Protection problem solved by the Engineered single point anchor and they will be rolling this solution out to all of their locations in the next year!

FallProof Systems is a National Fall Protection Organization that specializes in the design and installation of Engineered Fall Arrest Systems, including custom single point anchors. If you have a question about this project or any other fall protection hazards, please feel free to call us at: 1 (855) 279-2000.