CSA Standard Z259.

16-2004
Design of Active Fall Protection Systems
Scope and Application:
The standard is intended for professional engineers designing fall protection systems.
The standard shall be used as a design guideline. It specifies requirements for the
design and performance of complete fall protection systems including:
vertical and horizontal fall-arrest systems,
travel restraint systems.
Definition:

Active fall-protection systems a means of providing fall protection that requires

workers to take specific actions, including wearing (and otherwise using) personal
fall protection equipment and following prescribed procedures.

These systems are custom-designed for the intended purpose, but can be relocated if
needed. The standard does not specify design and performance for fall arrest
equipment or systems that have been manufactured and successfully tested in
accordance with the requirements of another standard CSA Z 259 (i.e. pre-engineered
systems).
Requirements:
Drawings and specifications are prepared under the direction of the professional
engineer and shall be signed , sealed, and shall include the following information:
Type of system, layout including details on specifications if applicable;
Number, location, and qualification of workers,
Specifications for all components including the standards that have to be met,
size and minimum breaking strength along with the method of proof testing
required before the system is put into place,
Environmental limitations (i.e. chemical, temperature, radiation, weather factors,
that may temporary of permanently render the system unsafe),
Information of the expected performance, including max. arrest load, sags,
deflection , maximum arrest force, and any other information that would impact
on the system performance and shall be indicated on the drawings,
Instructions for the assembly and installation, including: minimum required
strength of the anchors, clearance requirements ( including special situations),
and any safety precautions that shall be followed during the erection and/or
dismantling of the system,
Instruction for inspection, maintenance and retirement, including description on
how the inspection is conducted and description of the qualifications for the
person undertaking the inspection,
Instruction in safe access to and egress from the system,
A rescue plan for the fall arrest system, or requirement for the employer of the
workers using the system to develop and implement a rescue plan before the
system is used,
A statement of specifications that shall include special notation that
modifications shall not be allowed unless specified by a professional engineer,
A permanent system shall be inspected and certified by a professional engineer
to ensure that the system is installed in accordance with the drawings and
specifications.
Material, equipment and other design requirements outlined in the standard include:
Specific requirements for system components, compatibility
Energy absorber requirements and calculations (not to exceed 6kN impact
acceleration force on the worker, factoring in the free fall distance),
Self-retracting lanyards with limited use in the case of travel restraint systems,
Requirement for lanyards and full body harnesses,
(Over)

Fall arrest system, span length calculation,

Rescue requirements (if the rescue operation will impact the system
performance).

The safety criteria section refers to specific loads to be used in the design of active fallprotection systems, and gives direction on the determination of the components
strength and the structure to which it is attached. Sytems designed under this standard
are based on the following criteria:
R= F* where: R = the factored resistance of the component or the subsystem,
F*= the worst case factored effect of the applied loads on the
component or the subsystem.
Determination of the factored resistance and the factored loads is detailed in the
standards.
Maximum acceleration force or the peak acceleration force experienced by a worker
shall be less than 8 kN. Free standing systems ( systems that are not permanently
attached to a structure) have separate requirements for overturning and sliding,
depending on the type of system.
The fall protection system, loads and forces section, details design consideration for
assumptions calculation of the system along with set-up direction ( i.e clearance
calculations, free fall distance, deceleration distance, stretch out swing fall distance, etc.
) and explicit drawings and scenarios of arresting multiple workers falls.
Design assumptions and analytical methods of calculating the system are also outlined.
Methods of calculation that are acceptable are: dynamic analysis, energy analysis or
static analysis or testing. Other analytical methods may be considered if they can
accurately predict the performance of active fall protection systems.
The standard does not cover determination of the structural strength and behaviour of
components or anchorages of active fall protection systems. It does, however, establish
the safety criteria once the strength and behaviour are known.

This bulletin contains a summary of excerpts taken from the Standard, for general
information purposes only. This bulletin is not reflective of the complete
requirements that the Standard prescribes.
Note: Manitoba Regulation M.R. 217/2006 Section 1.4 inconsistency:
If there is an inconsistency between this regulation and a requirement contained
in a publication, code or standard referenced in this regulation, the provisions in
this regulation prevail.