MIAT has adopted and complies with the safety standards published by ANSI (American National Standards Institute) with respect to our Climb and Rescue course and the personal fall arrest equipment utilized. This standard establishes requirements for the design, performance, qualification testing, test methods, marking, instruction, training, maintenance, and removal from service of lanyards and positioning lanyards. The training contains certain physical practical training activities including without limitation: climbing vertical and sloped surfaces, suspension in a full body harness, using mechanical advantage rope systems to pull loads, walking at heights, carrying and lifting heavy objects, and standing on hard surfaces. Students must be able to safely participate in these activities, and due to the capacity restrictions of the necessary safety equipment, students must maintain their bodyweight in the required range of 130 to 275 pounds. Additionally, students must be able to lift and carry at least 45 pounds.
ANSI Z359.1-2020 requirements concern the following:
1.1 Scope
1.1.1. The Fall Protection Code (Code) is a set of standards that covers program management; system design; training; qualification and testing; equipment, component and system specifications for the processes used to protect workers at height in a managed fall protection program. This standard identifies those requirements and establishes their role in the Code and their interdependence.
1.1.2. The Fall Protection Code encompasses standards for personal fall protection systems that incorporate a full body harness intended to protect the user against falls from a height either by preventing or arresting free falls. In general, systems that prevent a free fall are preferable to systems that arrest a free fall. The types of systems that shall be addressed by this Fall Protection Code include:
- Fall restraint systems
- Work positioning systems
- Rope access systems
- Fall arrest systems
- Rescue systems
The capacity range noted above is calculated with the weight of the individual plus the weight of all the equipment and/or tools. At the discretion of the instructor, compliance with the capacity range may have to be verified.