Study of the aging, degradation and service life of fall protection equipment – Lifelines Abstract Falls from heights are a cause of serious and fatal accidents on construction sites. The strategy for fall protection aims to eliminate hazards at source, by planning for maximum operations on the ground. When this is impossible, workers must be protected by using personal protective equipment consisting of a harness for gripping the body, a lanyard with an energy absorber and an anchor point as a lifeline. Made of synthetic textile materials, lifelines deteriorate with wear and weather, which can cause a loss of resistance and represent a breaking risk when they are used.Despite significant advancements in the performance of these lifelines, the criteria for obsolescence have never been validated scientifically. The aim of this project is to study the aging and degradation of the materials used in manufacturing lifelines in order to establish experimentally validated obsolescence criteria. Workers will thus be able to dispose of unsafe lifelines; manufacturers will be able to improve the service life of synthetic lifelines. Produced Under this Project Scientific Reports Study on the Aging, Deterioration and Service Life of Fall Arrest Equipment – Lifelines Research Report: R-925 Video Reports and Conferences Étude sur le vieillissement, la dégradation et la durée de vie des équipements de protection contre les chutes - cordes d'assurance Video Summary: CS-004Study of the aging, degradation and service life of fall protection equipment – Lifelines Conference: CF-235 Simplified Articles Vieillisssement, dégradation et durée de vie des cordes d'assurance Volume 29, n0 4 Scientific Publications Outdoor weathering of polyamide and polyester ropes used in fall arrest equipmentArrieta C., Dong Y., Lan A. , Vu-Khanh T.Source : Journal of Applied Polymer Science, vol. 130, no 5, 2013, p. 3058-3065Outdoor weathering of synthetic fibers ropes used in FA equipmentLan A. , Dong Y., Arrieta A., Boukehili H., Vu-Khanh T.Source : in 2013 International Society for Fall Protection Symposium / ISFP, (June 27-28, 2013 : Las Vegas, USA), 2013Effet du vieillissement sur la résistance mécanique des cordes d'assurance verticalesLan A. , Bertrand GalySource : Travail et santé, 32(3), 29-33.Results of 24 months outdoor weathering of ropes used in fall arrest equipmentLan A. , Arrieta C.Source : Proceeding of Symposium of the International Society for Fall Protection (ISFP), Atlanta, GA, 2016 (p. 9-9).Étude sur le vieillissement, la dégradation et la durée de vie des équipements de protection contre les chutes-cordes d'assurancesLan A. Source : Communication présentée au Rendez-vous de la science de l'IRSST, Montréal, QC. Other Project(s) You May be Interested in Stability Criteria for Ladders and Stepladders Additional Information Type: Project Number: 0099-5150 Status: Completed Year of completion: 2015 Research Field: Mechanical and Physical Risk Prevention Team: André Lan (IRSST)Toan Vu-Khanh (École de technologie supérieure)Carlos Arrieta (École de technologie supérieure)Hychem Boukehili (École de technologie supérieure)