How to Don & Doff a Full Body Harness

Properly putting on (or "donning") a full body harness can save your life. These harnesses are used for fall protection when workers have jobs to do in high places. Hitched to a safety line system, they ensure that the shock from a fall is distributed across your body in a way that causes minimal injury and stress on the rope holding you. If the harness is not donned properly, its buckles can come loose on the shock of impact and let you fall. Taking the harness off (or "doffing" it) properly makes donning it easier for the next user.

Instructions

• 1

  Lift the harness up by grabbing the metal D-ring to which the rope will attach.

• 2

  Shake the harness while holding it by the D-ring to let the straps fall into place below it.

• 3

  Unbuckle any leg, chest or waist straps that were sitting buckled while the harness was not in use.

• 4

  Put the shoulder straps on over your shoulders. They are correctly positioned when the D-ring settles over your back between your shoulder blades.

• 5

  Buckle a leg strap around your right and left leg by passing the back part of each strap between your legs and buckling it to the front section.

• 6

  Buckle the waist belt if your harness has one.

• 7

  Buckle the chest strap and pull on it to tighten it until you feel that the shoulder straps are secure and in no danger of slipping from your shoulders.

• 8

  Tighten the straps on all the other buckles until they are comfortably snug, but not so far as to restrict your range of motion. Tuck away any excess strapping by passing it through the slotted metal pieces (called "loop keepers") on each strap.

• 9

  Remove the harness by loosening the limb straps, then unbuckling each of them. Leave the chest strap for last, then unbuckle it and slide the harness off your shoulders. Once the harness is off, buckle the buckles again to keep them from tangling.

• 10

  Hang the harness up so it's ready for the next user.