Web Retractables vs Cable Retractables: Choosing Fall Protection for Your Application

Intro

You know, to me, it doesn’t matter whether it’s 40 or 60, you’re going to have a failure. And when you have a failure in this type of a scenario, many times it’s a death.

Web Retractables vs Cable Retractable

So when we’re talking about construction, new construction, in my opinion and in our opinion, most of the hazards, or fall hazards, are exposed to an edge. You’re falling over an edge. You’re falling over the edge of a building or a beam or whatnot. And that’s when you’re subjecting your fall protection equipment to what we refer to as a leading edge. And that can be over a building’s edge, something to a deck like that. And this is an area that specific requirements are needed and tested when it comes to ANSI, and whether the retractables themselves are designed or capable of handling that. We utilize a retractable that’s manufactured in Germany by a company called IKAR. Their retractables have always met the European norm standards, which are very strict and stringent. And in this case, their retractables, whether it’s web or cable, are both approved for leading-edge, sharp-edge applications.

Why Pick a Cable Retractable?

The reason for a cable retractable, we have two specific potential reasons for that. One, someone doing what we refer to as hot work, someone working with a torch. Nylon has a tendency to melt and be damaged very quickly when it comes to heat. In that type of a scenario, a cable retractable would hold up much better. We also get into situations where we have very long spans. We’ve got retractables that run up to 210 feet. In a cable version, you have a tendency to operate reeling and unreeling much better than they do in a web version. That’s the other, that’s why you’ll see, if you’re looking at a retractable that’s, you know, 40, 50, 60 feet long, it’s only going to be available in the cable version.

How Often Are the Wrong Retractables Used?

It’s more along the lines of the operation of the retractables being allowed to be used in the applications that we’re talking about, specifically leading edge. A lot of manufacturers have retractables on the market that will state in their instructions, “Do not use that or expose it to a leading edge.” And that’s where we feel that it’s very important for users to take a look at their instruction manuals. That’s where it’ll state it.

Doesn’t a Web Retractable Add Risk to a Leading Edge Fall?

What a retractable is, is basically a seatbelt mechanism. It’s designed to be able to extend and retract as you’re working. When you fall, it engages. There’s a set of pawls or claws inside there, and they grab the inside of the housing exactly the same way that a seatbelt mechanism works on a car. What makes it different from the seatbelt mechanism in the car is that it also has what we refer to as an internal brake mechanism. So when I engage this retractable, I’m engaging a brake mechanism. I can’t do it right now because it’s going to take about 300 or 400 pounds of force, but this will then additionally deploy the brake mechanism. It’s very similar to that of a fishing reel. It’s a disc brake made out of the same thing as brakes on your car. So it’s going to deploy, and that’s where we get our deceleration and that force. As long as I decelerate enough, correctly and in the right manner, I’m dissipating that force over that leading edge. So whether it’s cable or web, as long as I keep that force down, I’m going to perform correctly. Unfortunately, there are a lot of retractables on the market that have eliminated the internal brake mechanism, and they just are a glorified seatbelt mechanism. And when that happens, folks like the people at Mazzella will tell you that you take, you know, 6,000-pound breaking-strength web or cable and take it over a leading edge, you’re going to reduce that breaking strength anywhere from 40 to 60 percent. And, you know, to me, it doesn’t matter whether it’s 40 or 60, you’re going to have a failure. And when you have a failure in this type of a scenario, many times it’s a death.

Strength of Web Retractables vs Strength of Cable Retractables

In this case, with IKAR, both of their retractables are rated and designed and perform equally in this case. If we were to push this to the limit, the folks at IKAR are telling me that actually the web retractables are stronger than steel in this type of an application. So, oddly enough. We get that a lot, you know, out there in the workplace today. People look at webbing versus the steel cable and just don’t feel that there could be any comparison, that the steel’s actually going to hold up better than the webbing. But in today’s day and age, with materials like Kevlar and Dyneema and Cordura nylon and whatnot, this stuff’s just stronger than steel.

Closing

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