Safety App Of The Week

July 28, 2013 No Comments

Below is our “Safety App of the Week”.  These weekly features are published every Monday.  New apps are tested on Apple iPads and rated from ♥ to ♥♥♥♥♥ (♥♥♥♥♥ is the best).  Prior app of the week articles are archived here.

FallClear LITE – Fall Arrest Clearance Calculators

Official Description  

“‘FallClear LITE’ is a tool for Workers, Supervisors, Competent and Qualified Persons, who have been properly trained in fall protection.  It evaluates Required Clearance for several Fall Arrest scenarios that the user identifies by selecting the applicable pictogram.  ‘FallClear LITE’, presumes that Personal Energy Absorbers (PEAs) always fully deploy when arresting a fall.

‘FallClear PRO’ estimates Personal Energy Absorber and SRL deployment based on the specified worker weight and the minimum properties that would allow the device to pass the CSA, ANSI or EN standard selected by the user.

The root App estimates clearance based on connection to non-deflecting anchorages, but provides advice on how to estimate additional required clearance to account for deflection of horizontal lifelines, stretch of vertical lifelines, and swing falls.

The application creates a summary of the clearance calculation to create a record that may be emailed.”¹

Thumbs Up

• cost is free
• no sign-in or password required; however you are required to accept a hold-harmless agreement before being able to use this app
• well organized, easy to use without instructions
• visually attractive with great graphics
• fall clearance calculations are a technical and complex subject, fortunately for us this “first of its’ kind” app was developed by an expert on this subject – Greg Small
• some average workers “do not have the spatial reasoning, math skills, and knowledge of the equipment performance required to calculate clearances”², this app will do it for them
• the app is easy to use, “workers select the pictogram that matches the fall protection being used and then simply input the lanyard/lifeline length and PEA (Personal Energy Absorber) type”²
• while the LITE version does use a simpler formula to calculate clearances, it actually has a greater built-in safety margin than the Fallclear Pro version; in-other-words, the LITE version does not provide a lesser degree of safety than the PRO version does
• can be used off-line

 

Thumbs Down

• FallClear LITE can only be used with people who weight less than 310 pounds (140 kg), if you have workers who weight more you will need to use the FallClear PRO app

Overall Rating

• iPad / iPhone  –  ♥♥♥♥♥
• Andriod –  ♥♥♥♥♥

¹ Descriptions courtesy of Apple Inc.

^{2 Comments from Greg Small 7/19/13}

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