Fall Protection on Standing Seam Panels
Fall Protection on Standing Seam Panels
(OP)
Hi Everyone,
Fall protection is new to me and I am stuck with a few questions. Any help is greatly appreciated.
We have an anchor system that will be used on a standing seam insulated panel. Per OSHA design requirements, the anchor was designed to a 5,000 lb single point load. Since the load will be transferred onto the standing seam system, is it practical to use the 5,000 lb load for the panels?
The standing seam panels are fastened through the interior facer (26 gauge) along with a clip (24 gauge) to give us a total sheet thickness of 0.042''. Panels are fastened into 18 gauge material. I am concerned with the shearing of the 18 ga material or the interior sheet when a 5,000 lb load is induced on the panel. Does the system need to be designed to this or is there another design load we use? I don't see why we need a 5,000 lb load for a single lifeline.
Thanks in advance for your advice/input.
Fall protection is new to me and I am stuck with a few questions. Any help is greatly appreciated.
We have an anchor system that will be used on a standing seam insulated panel. Per OSHA design requirements, the anchor was designed to a 5,000 lb single point load. Since the load will be transferred onto the standing seam system, is it practical to use the 5,000 lb load for the panels?
The standing seam panels are fastened through the interior facer (26 gauge) along with a clip (24 gauge) to give us a total sheet thickness of 0.042''. Panels are fastened into 18 gauge material. I am concerned with the shearing of the 18 ga material or the interior sheet when a 5,000 lb load is induced on the panel. Does the system need to be designed to this or is there another design load we use? I don't see why we need a 5,000 lb load for a single lifeline.
Thanks in advance for your advice/input.






RE: Fall Protection on Standing Seam Panels
The 5000 lbf requirement is a static load to compensate for the dynamic load that falling would create. When considering worker life safety, it is much better to be conservative.
RE: Fall Protection on Standing Seam Panels
JWB
RE: Fall Protection on Standing Seam Panels
RE: Fall Protection on Standing Seam Panels
Also, little known is that OSHA allows the force to be only TWICE the anticipated load. We use a load of about 2,000 lbs after extensive testing. So if you are using a specifically designed system - usually with a shock absorbing lanyard or SRL - you might get that to work.
Or you might use a horizontal life line - sometimes hard to find anchorage points.
Good Luck
RE: Fall Protection on Standing Seam Panels
Since this anchor can sustain the 5000lb load, it would be transferred onto the panel and its connections. I'm concerned that the load will widen the fastener holes or shear.
RE: Fall Protection on Standing Seam Panels
RE: Fall Protection on Standing Seam Panels
RE: Fall Protection on Standing Seam Panels
RE: Fall Protection on Standing Seam Panels
RE: Fall Protection on Standing Seam Panels
With any piece of equipment like you showed, you should get (they should provide) testing reports and certification papers from a reputable lab. Along with complete instructions for its use. Their certification stops where the yellow painted parts touch your roofing seam, and it is always your responsibility to actually design and certify the attachment system adequacy. I’m not sure I like the idea of tightening four bolts on a roofing seam as a means of securement. And, you don’t usually have the sharpest guys in the world doing this with torque wrenches either. Designing that piece of equipment for 5k is no great shakes, nor is testing it when you can bolt it to a W 14x730 column, but you have to show that you can get that 5k down into adequate structure to take that loading. As MiketheEngineer mentioned there are a couple work-arounds to reduce that 5k loading.
I don’t like the design of that piece of equip. because it applies the 5k load up 6" above the standing seams. And, this will tend to lift the high side of the locking bracket off the standing seam, literally roll it up about the lower corner of the clamp, a difficult load direction to justify. I would like to get that 5k load right down at the top of the standing seam and generally in a parallel plane to the roof. That loading is more likely taken by many fasteners from the sheet to the structure using the roofing sheet as a long shear diaphragm. Maybe you need to span several sheets of roofing with the yellow device, and make it stiffer in its plane parallel to the roof to distribute the 5k to more sheets/fasteners. Remember, the 5k load is an ultimate (about to fail) loading and you can be peeling sheets off the roof at that point as long as you hold the load.
That particular piece of equip. might not be the best solution to work with your roofing. That requirement wasn’t part of the original roofing system design. So, now there may have to be some give-n-take in the final solution to get the customer something workable.
RE: Fall Protection on Standing Seam Panels
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
http://mmcengineering.tripod.com
RE: Fall Protection on Standing Seam Panels
RE: Fall Protection on Standing Seam Panels
RE: Fall Protection on Standing Seam Panels
RE: Fall Protection on Standing Seam Panels
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1926.502(d)(15) Anchorages used for attachment of personal fall arrest equipment shall be independent of any anchorage being used to support or suspend platforms and capable of supporting at least 5,000 pounds (22.2 kN) per employee attached, or shall be designed, installed, and used as follows:
1926.502(d)(15)(i) as part of a complete personal fall arrest system which maintains a safety factor of at least two; and
1926.502(d)(15)(ii) under the supervision of a qualified person.
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I don't think the device shown fits the allowances under 1926.502D)(15)(i-ii), since it is not a complete system. You have to design for 5000 lbs (ultimate) unless you meet these criteria. I doubt you will reach sufficient capacity without permanent deformation to (or perforation of) the roofing from the clamping forces required, even if the anchorage is not subjected to fall loads.
RE: Fall Protection on Standing Seam Panels
The OSHA construction code above is indeed how the fall protection community regulates itself for the most part: 5,000 lbs or 2:1 against failure. Another resource you may find helpful is the ANSI Z359 "Fall Protection Code" - particularly Z359.6, the requirements for design.
In effect, the OSHA code recognizes that engineers can be 1) unjustifiably expensive or unnecessary if a piece of structure is OBVIOUSLY strong enough, or 2) hard to get a-hold of at 3am when you suddenly have to make an emergency repair. In short, the code allows an on-site supervisor, shift lead, or other person of similar “competent” responsibility to designate an 'un-certified' (non-engineered) anchorage so long as he or she is certain it can clearly support 5,000lbs and allows for adequate fall clearance. This number is conservative because the non-engineer individual is probably not checking load combinations when designating an anchorage. ‘Certified’ anchorages are designated when an engineer designs them with a 2:1 factor of safety against ultimate failure. No horizontal lifeline should ever be supported by a non-certified anchorage.
Referenced in passing above is the fact that most equipment has some sort of native shock absorption built into it to either protect the worker or the structure. One user above mentions witnessing testing that resulted in anchorage loads of around 1,000 lbs which does not surprise me at all: all equipment/lanyards lists the "MAF" (maximum arresting force) on the label, and on most equipment the MAF is 900 lbs.
The Capital Safety post products mentioned above are the “Leap” posts, designed and lab-verified to perform on standing-seam roofs. The posts are sacrificial with a built-in shock absorption mechanism. Miller, XS Platforms, Latchways, and others all have similar systems. In a fall event then flop over and lay flat against the roof, loading the roof diaphragm in plane as they pay out a shock absorber to limit the load transferred to the roof structure. This process can also add to your required fall clearance, so keep an eye on that. If you're interested I can send you a test video by capital safety, they nearly all operate on the same principal. So long as you install them per the manufacturer's instructions, you can rest assured it will perform as it has in their verification tests. Any given manufacturer should be able to provide you whatever documents you need for settling your own nerves.
The Guardian product you reference is obviously rigid. The SRL block mounted in the unit will probably limit your MAF to 900lbs, but then that needs to be resisted by the roof deck. Keep in mind, the code allows you to yield the structure (ie your roof decking) so long as it doesn't fail. If you don't want the deck deformed at all, you may want to consider other products. You also want to make sure you’re using SRL’s designed for ‘leading edge’ work. I can explain this further if you’re interested.
I've tried to address most concerns in the thread; if I missed something, let me know. In the interest of disclosure I am a structural engineer by trade and licensure, currently working in a design-build fall protection group. We design, supply, and install products and systems produced by a number of different manufacturers. I can't figure out if this forum supports private messages; if it does, feel free to contact me that way or via this thread.