Two inspection frequencies, not one
Before-each-use inspection is a quick, worker-performed check every time the harness goes on — visual and tactile, covering the obvious failure points. The periodic (typically annual) inspection is more thorough and is often expected to be documented by a competent person, going through every component in detail rather than a quick pre-use scan.
A common compliance gap is treating the annual inspection as sufficient on its own — it isn't a substitute for the daily check, and vice versa.
What "removed from service" actually means
Any component that fails inspection, or any component the inspector has lost confidence in for any reason — a fall, contact with a harmful substance, visible damage — means the entire unit comes out of service. Not just the failed component. This is stricter than most equipment categories, and for good reason: fall protection gear has no acceptable partial-failure state.
What documentation should include
- Who inspected the equipment and when
- Unique identification of the specific harness (manufacturer, serial or ID number)
- Results across every component category — not a single pass/fail line
- Overall disposition — accepted or rejected
- What happened to rejected equipment — confirmation it was actually removed from service, not just noted as failed
Why this matters beyond the audit
A documented, consistent fall protection inspection process is one of the more heavily scrutinized elements in a COR audit specifically because the consequence of a real failure is severe. Auditors aren't just checking whether a form exists — they're checking whether the inspection process is actually functioning as a real safety control, evidenced by consistent records across your whole workforce, not just the harnesses that happen to be checked before an audit visit.