Arresting force
29 CFR 1926.502(d)(16) limits the maximum arresting force on a worker wearing a full body harness to 1,800 lb.
Trap: the rule text still prints 900 lb for a body belt. That figure is dead for fall arrest, because body belts have not been acceptable in a personal fall arrest system since January 1, 1998. Also keep 5,000 lb out of this answer: that is the anchorage and hardware strength, not a force on the worker. 3,600 lb appears nowhere in the rule.
Free fall and deceleration distance
1926.502(d)(16) sets two limits that are easy to swap:
- Free fall: no more than 6 ft, and the worker may not contact any lower level.
- Deceleration distance: no more than 3.5 ft to bring the worker to a stop.
Trap: reversing them to 3.5 ft free fall and 6 ft deceleration. The 10 ft figure is the scaffold fall protection trigger, not an arrest limit, and there is no 2 ft deceleration limit.
Anchorage strength
Under 1926.502(d)(15) an anchorage must be independent of any anchorage used to support or suspend platforms. Without a qualified person's design and supervision, it must support at least 5,000 lb per employee attached. The alternative is a complete system designed, installed and used under a qualified person's supervision that keeps a safety factor of at least 2.
Worked case: two roofers tied to one anchorage with no qualified person gives 5,000 lb × 2 = 10,000 lb. Trap: answering 5,000 lb (only one worker) or 3,600 lb (multiplying the 1,800 lb arresting force instead of the anchorage figure).
Body belts today
Since January 1, 1998, a body belt may be used only as part of a positioning device system (1926.502(e)), never for fall arrest. No arresting-force limit or free-fall distance rescues it, and residential construction has no body-belt exception; it uses the same fall protection systems as other construction.