Cut resistant innovative lightweight woven safety lanyards

The safety of individuals working at height is currently achieved through a body harness and lanyard. Protection against organ damage is through a shock-absorbing mechanism; stitching in the lanyard to create pleats of material, which when subjected to an impulsive force causes the stitching to break progressively resulting in attenuation of body momentum. New legislation requires the lanyard to withstand harsh cutting tests to avoid the risk of failure in use. Current weaving technology precludes the use of heavier, inflexible fibres and fabrics as narrow-fabric looms are not robust enough to weave the weight and type of fabric required without destruction of the loom lifting mechanisms. The objective is to investigate the feasibility of an innovative economic retrofit which will use electronics and embedded software to control servo motors to perform the lifting operation to produce a lanyard which is lighter and functionally superior to metal alternatives in conforming to legislation.