A sharp edge is the thing that defeats fall protection. Under fall arrest load, rope drawn hard across a steel edge can be severed in an instant, and it happens before the shock absorber has had a chance to do anything. Standard edge protection is the usual answer, but it requires the edge to be identified and protected in advance, which on a real site is not always possible.
The Gravity-S range uses an **anti-cut rope specifically constructed to withstand sharp edges**. It does not make edges safe, but it removes the single most abrupt failure mode in edge-exposed work. The **green karabiner and scaffold hook** are how you tell it apart from a standard lanyard at a glance, which matters when both are in the same stores.
Key Features
- Anti-cut rope construction: Designed to withstand contact with sharp edges under load, addressing the failure mode that severs conventional rope instantly.
- Green fittings: Karabiner and scaffold hook in green, so the anti-cut version is instantly identifiable and cannot be confused with a standard lanyard.
- 11 mm polyamide kernmantle: Core and sheath construction with the anti-cut specification.
- 35 mm shock absorber: Limiting arrest forces to the EN 355 requirement.
- Two lengths: 1.2 m rated 100 kg, 2 m rated 140 kg. Note the ratings differ.
- Fitted with connectors: Ready to use.
Technical Specifications
| Product Code |
Length |
Max User Weight |
Rope |
Absorber |
| FA 30 512 12 |
1.2 m |
100 kg |
11 mm anti-cut polyamide |
35 mm |
| FA 30 512 20 |
2 m |
140 kg |
11 mm anti-cut polyamide |
35 mm |
The maximum user weight differs between lengths: 100 kg on the 1.2 m and 140 kg on the 2 m. Check against user weight plus tools.
BS EN 355 | Anti-Cut Rope | Category III PPE
Conforms to BS EN 355 for energy absorbing lanyards, using an anti-cut rope construction designed to withstand sharp edges. Anti-cut construction reduces but does not eliminate the risk of edge damage; where a sharp edge is present, edge protection should still be used. Category III PPE under Regulation (EU) 2016/425. Inspection by a competent person at intervals not exceeding 12 months and immediate withdrawal after arresting a fall.
Suitable Applications
Specified wherever the lanyard may bear on a sharp edge during a fall: steel erection and structural work, roof edge work, tank and vessel tops, precast concrete, and any leading edge situation. It is also the sensible default where edges cannot be identified and protected reliably in advance, which describes most construction sites. Where the anchor is overhead and the lanyard cannot reach an edge, a standard shock absorbing lanyard is considerably cheaper.
More About This Product
The lanyard is where most fall protection systems are specified wrongly, and almost always in the same direction: a restraint lanyard used where fall arrest was needed.
It happens because the two look alike, cost similarly, hang in the same place in the store and are both described as lanyards. The difference is a folded pack of stitched webbing — the shock absorber — and on some designs it is tucked inside a cover where it is not obvious at a glance. A restraint lanyard is engineered on the assumption that it will never take a fall, and if it does, the forces reaching the body are far beyond what the human frame tolerates.
Fall Clearance: The Calculation Nobody Does
Ask most people how much clearance a 2 metre shock absorbing lanyard needs and they will say two metres. The real figure is a great deal more, and the gap between those two numbers is where people get hurt.
The calculation stacks up as follows. Lanyard length — as marked on the lanyard. Shock absorber deployment — the pack tears progressively and extends significantly. The figure for your specific lanyard is on its own label and must be read from there. The user's height below the attachment point — the dorsal D-ring is at shoulder height, so add roughly 1.5 m to reach the feet. A safety margin — because the calculation assumes ideal conditions and reality rarely provides them.
Added together these come to considerably more than the lanyard length, frequently more than double it. On a low working platform a shock absorbing lanyard may not prevent the ground being reached at all.
Where the clearance is not available, the answer is a retractable block, which arrests in a far shorter distance, or a restraint system where a fall is prevented rather than arrested.
How to Use the Anti-Cut Lanyard
- Still use edge protection where you can: Anti-cut construction reduces the risk; it does not remove it. Protect identified edges as well.
- Check the length rating: 1.2 m is 100 kg, 2 m is 140 kg. Confirm against user weight plus tools.
- Calculate fall clearance: Lanyard length plus absorber deployment plus user height plus margin.
- Attach the karabiner to the harness dorsal D-ring.
- Anchor as high as possible: Reduces both fall distance and the angle at which the rope crosses any edge.
- Inspect the rope where it has crossed edges: Even anti-cut rope shows damage from repeated edge contact.
Warning: Anti-cut construction reduces the risk of edge failure but does not eliminate it. Edge protection should still be used where a sharp edge is identified. Maximum user weight differs by length: 100 kg on the 1.2 m, 140 kg on the 2 m.
Safety Information
- For use only by trained and competent persons within a safe system of work.
- Maximum user weight 100 kg on the 1.2 m, 140 kg on the 2 m, including tools.
- Use edge protection in addition where a sharp edge is identified.
- Calculate fall clearance including shock absorber deployment.
- Anchor as high as practicable.
- Inspect the rope for damage after any edge contact.
- Withdraw immediately after arresting a fall or any sign of absorber deployment.
- Inspection by a competent person required at intervals not exceeding 12 months.
Inspection and Maintenance
Run the full rope length through your hands feeling for soft spots, hard spots and diameter changes indicating core damage, then inspect the sheath for cuts, abrasion, glazing and staining. Pay particular attention to any section that has been in contact with structure, since anti-cut rope resists damage but records it: a sheath showing cuts has done its job and is telling you the edge was real. Check the shock absorber pack for any sign of deployment, tearing or an opened cover, and examine both green connectors for gate operation and wear.
Downloads
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Does anti-cut mean I can ignore sharp edges?
No. It withstands edge contact far better than standard rope, which addresses the most abrupt failure mode in fall arrest, but edge protection should still be fitted where an edge is identified. Think of it as protection against the edges you did not know about.
Q: Why are the fittings green?
So the anti-cut version is instantly distinguishable from a standard lanyard. In a stores full of similar looking lanyards, colour coding is the difference between the right one being taken to an edge job and the wrong one.
Q: Why do the two lengths have different weight ratings?
100 kg on the 1.2 m and 140 kg on the 2 m. It reflects how the shorter lanyard and its absorber perform together. It is unusual and easy to miss, so check the rating against the actual user rather than assuming the range figure.
Q: Is it worth the extra over a standard rope lanyard?
Where any edge exposure exists, comfortably. A severed lanyard is not a fall arrested badly, it is a fall not arrested at all. On work with a genuinely overhead anchor and no possible edge contact, the standard version does the same job.
