Fall Arrest Inertia Reels and Retrieval Blocks

Small lightweight fall arrest inertia reels made to European standard EN360 (fall arrest) are an excellent and very popular piece of fall arrest equipment. They are designed to be a personal issue product, assigned to individuals working at height and are very efficient at arresting falls in a very short distance. When deploying fall arrest equipment the user should always use the most appropriate piece of equipment that is capable of arresting the fall in the shortest possible distance; the greater the fall distance the greater the consequence of the fall; in other words the more chance that the casualty will be injured and therefore require a more technical the rescue. With a fall arrest inertia reel mounted directly above head it’s possible to arrest a fall within 100mm! Personal fall limiters (PFL) are supplied by LiftingSafety from some of the world’s top quality height safety manufacturers including Tractel, Sala, Miller Yale, Ridgegear and many more. Please contact us if you need any assistance.

Fall arrest inertia reels to EN360 are an excellent way to reduce fall distance for those unfortunate enough to have fallen while working at height. Reduction in fall distance means less chance of injury to the casualty and an easier rescue. Reducing fall distance is the main feature for fall arrest inertia reels; in this category we offer a great range with a cable lifeline length of up to 60 metre long. We offer fall arrest blocks from top quality manufacturers including Tractel, Sala, Miller, Yale, Ridgegear and many more. We sell fall arrest blocks that are sealed for offshore our outdoor use, ones with stainless steel components, lightweight blocks and very durable units. Only operate the inertia reels with-in the manufacturer’s acceptable angles of use taking time to read the label on the inertia reel and follow the manufacturer’s operation and user manual. Most self retracting lifelines (SRL) cannot be used outside beyond 40 degrees from the vertical though we do also offer inertia reels that are suitable for horizontal use. Inertia reels can be dangerous is used incorrectly and users should be aware of the possible “pendulum effect” which can result in impact with the ground after a fall has been arrested. Please contact us if you need any assistance or a quotation.

These are fall arrest inertia reels manufactured to EN360 / EN1496 are fitted with an integrated rescue handle to enable rescue of the casualty after the fall has been arrested. Retrieval blocks are often fitted to confined space tripod systems though are also often used as a standalone fall arrest and rescue system. Having the winch built into the inertia reel means that the user has a rescue plan already in place and therefore complies with the working at height directive. Fall arrest inertia reels reduce fall distance compared to many other fall arrest systems. Reduction in fall distance means less chance of injury to the casualty and an easier rescue. Our retrieval blocks are offered from top quality manufacturers including Tractel, Sala, Miller, Yale, Ridgegear and many more. Some are sealed for offshore / outdoor use and others made from stainless steel. We also offer lightweight retrieval blocks and durable options for more aggressive environments.

LiftingSafety offer in this category auto descender blocks. They look very similar to fall arrest inertia reels though operate quite differently. The primary function of an auto descender is for self-evacuation in the event of an emergency situation (in accordance with EN341). A typical application may be that the block is attached to an anchorage point above the vertical escape route; then the bottom Karabiner of the block is connected the person needed to evacuate. The person then literally lets themselves over the edge and the descender automatically lowers them to the floor. We also offer Auto descenders that have built in fall arrest function to EN360. In this case the block will arrest a fall then automatically lower the casualty to the floor – a self-rescue plan. The Sala RSQ range is even more specialized as this range of sealed descenders can perform all of the above functions though also have an option complete with an integrated rescue winch to EN1497. This is a technical and expensive product range so please feel free to contact our sales or technical team for any assistance needed.

Wire line fall arrest blocks are often integrated into bespoke man-riding systems to provide fall protection in the event of a failure to the primary lifting machine / winch. They are often used on man access baskets, tripod and gantry man-riding projects. We offer manually operated fall arrest blocks that need depression of a lever to allow the block to travel on the wire; effectively a dead man handle! We also offer fully automatic fall arrest systems that have an overspeed mechanism that detect the fall and arrests it automatically. All these products are made by Tractel and are complicated / technical products, we look forward to offering our assistance.