Anchor points are a critical part of any fall protection or fall restraint system. They provide a secure point from which individuals using fall protection systems can attach their equipment to ensure they don’t fall if something goes wrong whilst working at height. Safety lines for horizontal or vertical systems, harnesses and the like are all attached to an anchor point or eyebolt, securing the system and allowing the worker to carry out their tasks with confidence.
However, your anchor points are only safe if they have been designed, installed and maintained correctly to ensure full compliance with the latest height safety standards and working at height regulations.
Understanding anchor point requirements and designing, installing, and maintaining them is our bread and butter as a height safety specialist company. And today we’ll be sharing some of that knowledge with you.
If you’re responsible for the safety of people working at height at your site or building, then it’s essential that you understand anchor points, their uses, and the regulations and requirements that make them an essential addition to any fall protection system. You’ll find out all about that below.
What Are Anchor Points?
Anchor points are exactly what the name suggests – points attached to a secure position that act as an anchor for another part of a person’s fall protection system. An individual would attach their personal fall protection equipment to the anchor point – such as a safety line or harness – creating a secure attachment point for all manner of fall protection and fall arrest systems. They’re single point anchors for individual workers at a time – rather than a collective protection system designed for multiple workers – but they’re the perfect solution when securing workers in place to avoid personal injury, especially in confined spaces.
They can be set up to withstand different forces depending on one of the following requirements:
- Fall protection – can withstand the force of an individual tripping or falling whilst attached
- Fall arrest – can withstand the force of an individual falling a significant way, and the anchor point can stop that fall from becoming serious
- Work position – can withstand the force of an individual and their work equipment relying on the anchor point as their method of preventing a fall so they can complete their work tasks whilst suspended
They’re different from mobile elevated work platforms which are generally the standard only when a one off task is being completed. For any task that is likely to be required again, anchor points are usually the best and safest method. Deciding what’s required will usually come after a thorough risk assessment.
Where Are Anchor Points Used?
As a specialist height safety company we design, install and inspect and maintain anchor points across a range of sites in the UK in a range of different industries covering a whole array of professions. That is to say, there’s hardly any industry where we haven’t installed an anchor point.
To give you a better idea, though, here are some examples:
- Manufacturing
- Roofing
- Construction industry
- Retail
- Food and drink
- Leisure
- Corporate
- Hotels
- Apartment buildings
- Shopping centres
People use anchor points or eyebolts for a range of reasons too. Window cleaning, roof repairs, facade cleaning, you name it. The point is, anchor points are a key component of many work at height systems, so they’re common wherever working at height is necessary.
What’s The Difference Between Anchor Points, Devices, And Systems?
Whilst they are used interchangeably day to day by people not in the industry, it’s important that you know and make the distinction when talking about anchor points vs anchor devices vs anchor systems when dealing with working at height safety specialists because they’ll need to know exactly what you need when discussing the installation or maintenance of your equipment.
Here’s how you tell all 3 apart:
| Anchor Point | An anchor point is the specific location in a working at height safety system that acts as the main point of contact for an individual’s personal protective equipment e.g. lifeline or harness. |
| Anchor Device | These are specific installations that require one or more anchor points and act as a broader assembly for the entire anchor system. There are 5 different types:
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| Anchor System | This is the complete system including all anchor points and devices that make up the system that protects workers whilst working at height. |
What Are The Requirements And Regulations Concerning Anchor Points?
Below we’ll cover a range of regulations and requirements relating to the initial design, proper installation and regular maintenance of anchor points, devices and systems. Many of these regulations and standards are entire documents with detailed explanations regarding anchor points and other work at height systems.
We won’t bore you with the details below, but we will give you the top notes – the things you really need to know to get to grips with anchor points and their requirements in the UK.
P.S. Don’t worry – we know these regulations inside out and all of our anchor points are designed, installed, and maintained following the latest regulations. We’re always keeping up to date with them to ensure we don’t miss the latest changes so you can be confident your system is safe and compliant. Both temporary and permanent anchors must be inspected regularly by a trained, competent person to ensure they meet the relevant safety requirements. Failing to do so could land you in hot water, so ensure you’re working with the right team to protect your workers.
Work At Height Regulations 2005
The Work At Height regulations act as the skeleton for all future British Standards and regulations relating to anchor points, devices, and systems. It’s the framework for everything that follows in our guide today. The main point of work at height regulations is placing the responsibility for the safety of workers who work at height firmly at the employer’s or site/building owner’s feet.
It states that employers and building owners have a legal responsibility and duty to ensure all work at height tasks are planned and executed safely with all the relevant protective equipment, and safety systems in place.
They also make clear that fall protection systems should be designed, installed and maintained to the highest regulatory standards and that it’s the employer or building/site owner that must ensure this is done.
Workers using the safety systems, including anchor points, must be sufficiently trained in that system.
BS 7883 & BS EN 795
BS 7883 and BS EN 795 are British Standards that have been developed to satisfy part of the work at height regulations. Essentially, the two standards combine to help those who are responsible for working at height safety to select the appropriate anchor devices for the tasks at hand. They categorise each anchor device clearly so those responsible can choose the best anchor for the job.
Type A
Permanently fixed anchors providing a secure anchor point for a full range of fall protection systems. They must be installed on load bearing materials such as concrete or steel and require permanent structural fixing.
Fixed anchor examples include eyebolts, base plates, and fixed posts.
Type B
Type B are a temporary anchor point solution. They’re a temporary anchor solution designed to be removed once it’s no longer necessary. These are often installed when maintenance or repair is necessary on a particular part of the building where the work required to fix the issue is short lived.
Examples include temporary davit arms, tripods, vacuum anchors and slings.
Type C & D
Types C and D are both examples of horizontal safety line systems that can be flexible (cable based) or rigid (rail-based). They’re often installed on roofs to allow workers free movement along the safety line.
Type C are flexible horizontal lifelines which usually involve a stainless steel wire rope cable. Type D are rigid horizontal safety line systems which provide a secure, rail-based track for the attachment point and worker to move along.
Type E
Finally, Type E anchor points are vertical safety line systems that provide further protection whilst workers climb ladders, towers, or scaffolding. You can move up and down freely, but should a worker misplace their footing, then the system will provide immediate fall arrest.
Vertical safety lines can also be rigid or flexible depending on the system design.
BS EN 353-1 & BS EN 353-2
BS EN 353-1 & 353-2 both relate to vertical safety line systems specifically. 353-1 talks specifically about rigid vertical safety line systems installed on a rail-based system. BS EN 353-2 is concerned with flexible vertical safety line systems which use cable or ropes to allow movement for the user. Whether you require a rigid anchor line or flexible anchor line depends on the task at hand.
Both regulations define clearly the testing, strength and performance standards expected of vertical safety line systems so that height safety specialists like our team at Altus Safety know exactly what we’re looking for when designing, testing, and maintaining these systems.
BS 8610
BS 8610 is concerned with type testing of anchor systems. Essentially, it’s concerned with real world testing standards for anchor systems and the structural anchor points they utilise. It aims to ensure that these systems and their anchor points withstand real world conditions and forces to protect users.
It covers a wide array of criteria but chief amongst them are environmental durability, corrosion resistance and deformation testing after continued use and under real world loads. A full range of test methods is described throughout the regulation.
BS EN 795: 2012 (Single User Anchors)
BS EN 795: 2012 discusses single user anchors only. These anchors are designed to support the load of only one person at a time whilst in use. Most anchor systems and anchor points fall under the category of single use anchors and examples include fixed eyebolts and personal deadweight anchors (typical on flat roofs).
This standard ensures that single use anchors can withstand the load of an individual at a time.
PD CEN/TS 16415:2013 (Multi User Anchors)
Although less common, multi user anchors are also available and are designed to support the load of multiple users at a time. PD CEN/TS 16415:2013 deals with multi user anchors and outlines the additional testing and maintenance required of a multi user anchor point and system.
As part of these tests, something known as a dynamic force must also be tested to ensure the load-bearing capabilities of the system and anchor point. Dynamic force can be described as the mass of an object multiplied by its rate of acceleration. In this case, a multi user anchor system would need to withstand the mass of every user multiplied by the rate of acceleration if every user were to fall whilst attached to the system. As you can imagine, the standards are very high here, but necessary to protect all users.
Horizontal safety line systems are the main example of multi user anchors, but they can be designed for single users only, too.
BS 7883: 2019
Another huge player in anchor point requirements and regulations in the UK is BS 7883:2019. It discusses the selection, design, installation and maintenance of anchor systems, and builds upon BS 7883: 2005 (discussed above) to further protect workers and ensure systems are designed, installed, and maintained to the highest of standards.
It has an in-depth section detailing the testing, inspection and recertification of anchor systems as well as a further section on load distribution whilst designing and testing a system to ensure more thorough real world applications.
System technical files are introduced here, too. This means that every anchor system must have a detailed record of the design, installation and inspections it goes through. This essentially allows any height safety specialist to look at a system’s history and determine its safety and compliance track record.
Within this technical file, the system designer role must be clearly identified. This forces height safety system designers to take responsibility for the work they carry out, encouraging accountability and enhanced professionalism in the industry.
How Altus Safety Can Help
At Altus Safety we specialise in height safety systems to ensure your workers are as protected as they can be when completing work at height. One of our areas of expertise is anchor points.
We understand the latest regulations and always keep up to date with any new or revised requirements that your anchor point systems must meet – meaning we always ensure you’re fully compliant.
Contact our team and find out how we can help you today.
Fall Protection Anchor Point Requirements UK: Final Thoughts
Getting fall protection right is vital if you want to protect the workers and contractors on your site. Anchor points are an important part of most work at height systems, and your workers rely on them to give them the confidence they need to be able to carry out their work at height tasks without worry.
The proper design, installation and maintenance of anchor points is the key to giving users this confidence. As a site owner it’s your job to understand the requirements in the UK – but you don’t need to know them as deeply as our team at Altus Safety.
Together we can ensure the anchor points used in your fall protection systems are fully compliant and safe, protecting your workers and your reputation.