Trauma suspension straps are a safety tool for workers who use fall protection harnesses. These simple devices are engineered to mitigate suspension trauma, also known as orthostatic intolerance, which can occur after a fall is arrested. By providing the suspended worker with a temporary foothold, the straps allow them to change their posture. This action prevents the physiological cascade that begins when the body hangs motionless in a harness.
The Danger of Suspension Trauma
Suspension trauma is a physiological condition that occurs when a worker is left suspended upright and immobile in a full-body harness after a fall has been arrested. The harness leg straps exert pressure on the veins and arteries in the inner thighs, particularly the femoral vessels. This pressure, combined with the lack of movement, significantly impedes the return of blood from the lower extremities back to the heart.
Blood begins to pool in the legs, a process known as venous pooling, because the leg muscles are relaxed and not contracting to pump blood upwards against gravity. Without this muscular action, the volume of blood returning to the core decreases, leading to a drop in blood pressure and a reduced supply of oxygenated blood to the brain and vital organs. This lack of circulation causes a metabolic shift in the legs, resulting in the buildup of acidic waste products.
The health risks progress rapidly. Symptoms like light-headedness, nausea, and dizziness can quickly lead to loss of consciousness. If the worker remains unconscious and suspended, the condition can result in kidney failure or death. Research indicates that the effects of suspension trauma can begin in as little as 10 to 30 minutes, emphasizing the urgency of immediate intervention.
Defining Trauma Suspension Straps
Trauma suspension straps are a specialized piece of personal protective equipment designed to be an immediate, temporary countermeasure to the effects of prolonged harness suspension. They are also frequently referred to as relief straps or trauma relief systems. These devices consist of lightweight, durable webbing material stored compactly in small pouches that attach directly to the harness, often near the worker’s hips or waist.
The straps are deployed by the worker after a fall and connected to form a single loop or a pair of loops. Their function is solely to provide a support point for the suspended worker’s feet. They do not interfere with the normal use of the harness or the worker’s mobility before a fall occurs.
How Trauma Straps Provide Relief
The core mechanism of trauma straps is allowing the worker to change their posture and actively engage their leg muscles. Once deployed, the straps provide a temporary foothold, enabling the worker to stand up in the harness and shift their weight away from the constricting leg straps.
Shifting weight to the feet immediately relieves the pressure the harness places on the major vessels in the inner thighs. Standing in the deployed straps allows the worker to engage their calf and thigh muscles. The contraction of these muscles acts as a “muscle pump,” which actively squeezes the deep veins in the legs to push the pooled blood back toward the heart. This action breaks the cycle of immobility and blood pooling, slowing the onset of orthostatic intolerance until rescue can be executed.
Using Trauma Straps Correctly
The effectiveness of trauma straps depends entirely on the worker’s ability to deploy them quickly and correctly following a fall. The first step involves retrieving the straps from their storage pouches and connecting them to form a loop.
Once connected, the worker must step into the loop with both feet, ensuring their weight is supported by the straps. The worker should then stand up as straight as possible, using the foothold to push their body upward and hold themselves in a near-standing position.
Maintaining a constant, slight shift in weight and moving the legs, such as by “pedaling” in the loop, helps sustain the muscle pump action. Workers must be trained to deploy the straps rapidly before the onset of symptoms like light-headedness or unconsciousness.
Trauma Straps and Overall Fall Protection Strategy
While trauma straps are a powerful tool for self-rescue, they are not intended to be a permanent solution for a suspended worker. They function as a bridge, extending the safe time a worker can wait for rescue. Regulatory standards, such as OSHA’s 1926.502(d)(20), require employers to provide for the “prompt rescue” of employees in the event of a fall.
Prompt rescue means the worker must be retrieved quickly enough to prevent injury or death from suspension trauma. Although regulatory bodies do not define an exact time limit, the rapid onset of severe effects necessitates that rescue should occur in minutes.
Safety protocols must include both the provision of trauma straps for self-mitigation and a pre-planned, practiced method for rapidly retrieving a suspended worker, often referred to as an assisted rescue.