Fall-protection harness training: Donning skill improves with up to four repetitions

Abstract

Injuries and fatalities from falling remain a major occupational safety concern. Among the multiple tactics for preventing fatal falls is the use of personal fall protection involving wearing a harness connected to a secure anchor point. This requires training to ensure trainees understand the importance of fall protection and have the skill to implement it correctly. One important skill is donning a fall protection harness and adjusting the straps. Those who conduct training on fall protection need to coach trainees through the steps involved in donning a harness. This study was undertaken to learn the benefits of practicing with the guidance of a coach. The experiment had university student volunteers watch a training video twice and then don a harness four times while being coached. Times for each of the five steps involved in donning and adjusting a harness were obtained for the 22 subjects who completed all steps. Time was used as the measure of skill level. The step of adjusting the leg straps accounted for the most time in all of the four repetitions. Total time to don fall protection was reduced with practice. The reduction followed a learning curve function based on a power model. According to this model, each doubling of the number of repetitions results in a 22.1% reduction in total time to don the harness.