20 Nov Equipment Inspection
How do you inspect your equipment?
The easy answer that I give during our safety & rescue certification classes is the following: “I inspect each piece of equipment every day according to the manufacturer’s specifications”.
While this might seem like a politically correct way to answer a question that requires more depth, it is still the only right way to respond. Descenders, lanyards, rope grabs, harnesses, and every other piece of equipment vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Just because someone may have taught you all the key points to inspect on your harness when you were issued your first one, it doesn’t mean that the new harness you replaced it with should be inspected exactly the same way. There are likely new features that need to be inspected.
How do you know what to inspect?
Keep the manufacturer’s info sheet that comes with every new piece of equipment that you get. I know the tendency is to throw it away, but there is some valuable information included and it is a requirement by OSHA that you know each inspection criteria for each piece of gear that you have. For instance, are your shock absorbing lanyards rated for a factor 1 (6ft) or factor 2 (12ft) freefall? I’m sure a lot of you reading this will know immediately, but I run into a lot of experienced climbers in class who haven’t heard of the difference before.
Inspect your equipment daily and be sure to know every critical part to inspect.
Stay safe and watch out for each other out there.
Nick Bassarab
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