Safety Harness Lanyards are known to be an important link between personal fall arrest and work positioning systems. They are a type of ropes, cables, and a wedding with a hardware connection on both ends. Their role is to securely attach the harness of the worker to a lifeline, anchor, or structure like rebar in the case of chain rebar assemblies.

Jason Wible Frenchcreek points out that a harness and lanyard system can be used to provide fall arrest protection, as well as serve to position the worker in a manner that both of their hands are free to work.

Jason Wible Frenchcreek offers a brief overview of safety lanyards and their use

Employees who work at 4 feet or higher in the general industry—and 6 feet or higher in construction, are at risk of serious and even fatal injuries in case fall. Hence, to protect them, employers need to provide adequate protection, including fall equipment like harnesses and lanyards. Working at height is an unavoidable part of some jobs. While there generally are many rules and safety regulations to prevent falls, all employers should make sure their employees are using their personal protective equipment properly.

Safety Harness Lanyards are among the most widely used and prominent tools for fall protection. They essentially act as a worker’s link to a fall protection anchor point. The short length of cable or webbing generally attaches to the D-ring of the safety harness of the worker and can have a shock-absorbing feature, or simply be attached as a lifeline. Lanyards are generally worn around the wrists, waist, shoulder, or neck of the users. They might even be secured temporarily to fittings of roofs, railings, poles, masts, ladders, towers, and so on. When selecting a lanyard it is vital to know the fall clearance distance or the distance needed to prevent someone who falls from coming to contact with the nearest obstruction under the work surface.

Safety Lanyards are basically made of the bight of rope majorly braided with manmade fibers like nylon, wires, leather, and so on. There might be spring hooks attached to them at one or both ends. Safety lanyards are widely used by divers working at sea and navy personnel. Soldiers and officers also commonly use lanyards to secure personal weapons to their bodies to reduce the fear of losing them on the battlefield. In contemporary times, safety lanyards are extensively used by workers who work high above the ground.

Jason Wible Frenchcreek mentions that safety lanyards can be widely categorized into two types, restraint lanyards and fall arrest lanyards. A restraint lanyard is designed to prevent falls by preventing the wearer from reaching a hazardous position from where a fall may occur. For instance, one might wear a safety harness and restraint lanyard when working on an aerial work platform. The length of the lanyard has to be chosen specifically to keep the wearer safely on the platform. A fall arrest lanyard, on the other hand, is used in situations where fall hazards cannot be wholly avoided. These lanyards have an energy-absorbing element that reduces the impact force exerted on the body of the wearer and the anchoring point in the event of a fall.