ST. PAUL, Minn. — Traditionally, snap hooks or connectors used in fall protection help provide a secure connection point. However, workers will frequently anchor these connectors incorrectly. In work environments such as construction, tower climbing, scaffolding and steel erection, the use of connectors that are not rated for transverse loads may present inherent risks. If incorrectly anchored, hooks not designed for transverse loading are more susceptible to failure in the event of impact loading such as during a fall arrest event.
Sounds dangerous, right? It is.
Moreover, one of the biggest challenges with traditional snap hook/connector designs is that it requires the worker to open the connector’s gate directly with the worker’s hand positioned in and around the internal opening of the hook. This can be a challenge because the worker’s fingers generally end up getting in the way during use, which reduces the size of the hook’s opening and can make it difficult to connect to the anchorage.
Another challenge with opening the gate directly with your hand is that fingers and knuckles are often exposed and can come into contact with the structure you are trying to connect, which can be painful and disruptive. Not only is this dangerous, but it’s not ergonomically sound, especially when you have to connect and reconnect over and over throughout the day.
Connect with More Comfort and Protection
Yet, since the first connector was introduced over two decades ago there haven’t been many design changes made because these snap hooks worked well and were considered efficient. But now there is a new comfort grip connector, which has been designed to address the concerns of transverse loading and improving protection for the worker’s hand. This latest type of connector is intended to protect your hand without busting your knuckles and it keeps your hand out of the way of the hook opening.
This new connector:
- Allows you to easily operate the gate without putting any part of your hand inside of the gate opening and is more ergonomic in design.
- Helps workers to get the most out of the connector while protecting your hands because the appropriate choice is being made for the task at hand since connectors are typically selected based on size.
- Provides more anchorage options to help take the risk out of connecting while working at heights with a transverse load-rated snap hook certified to ANSI, CSA, and CE Standards for connectors used for fall protection.
- Is made from aircraft-grade aluminum and alloy steel.
- Can be used in more applications due to its ability to self-align with the load in the event of a fall. This helps provide you with more options when selecting an anchor point because it can be loaded in multiple directions, which may save time and help take the guesswork out of where to connect.
See it in action:
Want to learn more about how these snap hooks can help protect your workers in the event of falls and how to trade-in your hold connectors for these new ergonomic options?
Check out this full video presented by our fall protection specialists or contact them at 1-800-328-6146 today with any questions you may have about how to protect your hands with these new comfort grip connectors.