It seems like common sense to me but I wear the stuff nearly every day for work. If my fall harness was as coated with paint as the guys painting them, it would be deemed out of service by me and my safety supervisor.
I'm assuming the company doesn't like buying new harnesses because the old one is coated in paint but I know they'd rather pay for a new harness than pay for death or disability insurance claims.
Blogs from Guardian Fall Protection, F.I.R.S.T Choice Training, and ESG.
www.guardianfall.com
The most visible issue with the webbing is the contamination from what looks like paint. Contamination in this manner doesn’t necessarily mean the lanyard has to be removed from service (the Competent Person will need to make that final decision), but it does present some problems for us.
What contamination like this tells us right away is that the equipment isn’t being maintained properly. The problem with contamination is that certain contaminants can degrade webbing strength over time (something that isn’t always visible), potentially resulting in diminished equipment performance. The other issue is that contamination makes it so equipment can’t be fully inspected. How, after all, can stitching integrity be inspected if the stitching is obscured by paint? In short, the solution to this problem is to clean, maintain, and store equipment with care; it will increase product lifetime, and keep workers safer.