Safety Harnesses and Fall Arrest Systems

Safety harnesses and other fall arrest systems are used to safely secure people at extreme heights while working, hunting, mountain climbing or doing other activities; however, these devices can be extremely dangerous. For example, common components of safety harnesses such as carabiners and V-ring/snap hook combinations are prone to fail if not manufactured properly, leaving people severely injured or worse.

Langdon & Emison, recognized as one of the nation’s top product liability law firms, has more than three decades of experience handling cases involving defective safety harnesses and other fall arrest systems. Our attorneys have deep knowledge and understanding of:

• The design and manufacture of safety harnesses and how their parts should work together to ensure user safety.
• Industry standards and regulations that govern the manufacture of safety harnesses and other fall arrest systems.
• How to identify when the parts of a safety harness are defective, illegal, outdated and do not meet industry standards and regulations.

A Proven Track Record of Success

People who have suffered serious injuries from defective safety harnesses come to Langdon & Emison for one reason: We win. Langdon & Emison has consistently won seven-figure recoveries in safety harness cases such as the following:

Repelling Demonstration Accident

A Georgia man and Major in the U.S. Marine Corps was severely injured during a repelling demonstration when his safety harness failed due to a defective carabiner, causing him to fall 25 feet to the ground. The carabiner was purchased as part of a bail-out kit.  Langdon & Emison successfully showed:

• The bail-out kit manufacturer failed to warn that the kit was not complete and did not include the proper usage warnings to its consumers.
• The carabiner manufacturer sold a defective carabiner in the bail-out kit and failed to warn that the carabiner should not be attached to certain types of equipment, in this case, an eyebolt.
• The carabiner was designed and manufactured using an aluminum that was cheaper, weaker and prone to fail at a pressure greater than 600 lbs.

Hunting Tree Harness Accident

Our firm successfully settled a lawsuit involving a tree harness that was used to secure a man 20 to 30 feet up a tree while he hunted. After 20 to 30 minutes, the tree harness failed, causing our client to fall and sustain severe and permanent injuries. Our legal team successfully argued:

• The parts chosen to secure our client in the tree were defective and violated industry standards.
• The snap-hook and V-ring combination in the tree harness was susceptible to roll-out when twisting forces were applied; yet, hunters were encouraged to use the harness to twist around trees to obtain a wide variety of shot angles.