May body belts be used as part of a personal fall arrest system in general industry?

No. OSHA regulation 29 CFR 1910.140(d)(3) says, “Body belts are prohibited as part of a personal fall arrest system.” Note that subparagraph (d)(3) clarifies that employers may use body belts only with positioning, travel restraint, and ladder safety systems, but the regulation adds language specifying that employers cannot use body belts with personal fall arrest systems. OSHA does not believe that employers will have difficulty complying with this prohibition because virtually all personal fall arrest systems manufactured and in use in the U.S. are equipped with body harnesses, not body belts.

According to the definitions at 1910.140(b), “Body belt means a strap with means both for securing about the waist and for attaching to other components such as a lanyard used with positioning systems, travel restraint systems, or ladder safety systems.”

The agency adds that both the construction industry and shipyard employment standards also prohibit the use of body belts as part of personal fall arrest systems (see 29 CFR 1915.159 and 1926.502(d)). Since January 1, 1998, those fall protection standards have prohibited the use of body belts in personal fall arrest systems because workers wearing them have been seriously injured by the impact loads transmitted and by the pressures imposed while suspended after fall arrest. Subparagraph 1910.140(d)(3) for general industry simply retains OSHA’s 1998 prohibition on the use of body belts as part of a personal fall arrest system.