Z259.12-16 (R2021) Standard + Redline

Overview

Falls from heights are among the most common causes of serious work-related injuries and deaths. Falls can not only occur from rooftops or scaling tall buildings, but can also occur from overhead platforms, elevated workstations, or even into holes in walls, floors or the ground. A fall protection system becomes a critical component of occupational health and safety (OHS) practices and procedures and it is mandatory for workers who are at risk of falling to have and make use of proper fall protection equipment.

CSA Group€™s Z259 series of standards help with the selection and proper use of current fall protection equipment - updated regularly in response to technological change and evolving safety concerns. It also tests and certifies fall protection equipment components to the applicable Z259 standards in Canada and the corresponding ANSI/ASME standards in the US.

CSA Z259.12 is part of this important series of standards. It specifies design and performance requirements, test methods, and requirements for marking and labelling individual connecting components used as part of a personal fall-arrest system (PFAS). First published in 2001, this third edition incorporates several key updates and changes.

CSA Group gratefully acknowledges the financial and in-kind support from the Canadian government departments responsible for occupational health and safety for the development of this edition.

Highlights of Z259.12

• Provides performance requirements, test methods, and requirements for marking individual components used as part of a personal fall-arrest system
• Updates to definitions and figures
• Revision to soft loop testing procedure and marking requirements
• Addition of requirements for transverse body loading (both static and dynamic)

Preface

This is the third edition of CSA Z259.12, Connecting components for personal fall-arrest systems (PFAS). It supersedes the previous editions, published in 2011 and 2001.

This Standard is part of a series of Standards on components of fall-protection systems and provides performance requirements, test methods, and requirements for marking individual components used as part of a personal fall-arrest system.

Changes to this edition include

a) updates to definitions and figures;

b) revision to soft loop testing procedure;

c) revisions to the marking requirements; and

d) addition of requirements for transverse body loading (both static and dynamic).

CSA Group acknowledges that the development of this Standard was made possible, in part, by the financial support of the Canadian government departments responsible for occupational health and safety.

Scope

1.1

This Standard specifies design and performance requirements, test methods, and requirements for marking and labelling individual connecting components used as part of a personal fall-arrest system (PFAS). This Standard applies to components that are

a) used in the interconnection of a complete PFAS unit in accordance with the applicable CSA Z259 series of standards;

b) intended to be used as the primary single link to a permanent anchorage connector; or

c) intended to be used as a primary attachment point between two or more subsystems.

1.2

This Standard does not apply to anchorage connectors that are covered under CAN/CSA-Z259.15.

1.3

In this Standard, shall is used to express a requirement, i.e., a provision that the user is obliged to satisfy in order to comply with the Standard; should is used to express a recommendation or that which is advised but not required; and may is used to express an option or that which is permissible within the limits of the Standard.

Notes accompanying clauses do not include requirements or alternative requirements; the purpose of a note accompanying a clause is to separate from the text explanatory or informative material.

Notes to tables and figures are considered part of the table or figure and may be written as requirements.

Annexes are designated normative (mandatory) or informative (non-mandatory) to define their application.

1.4

The values given in SI units are the units of record for the purposes of this Standard. The values given in parentheses are for information and comparison only.