As the established trade association and training body for the safety netting and temporary safety systems industry, FASET (Fall Arrest Safety Equipment Training) has removed the technique of gathering to reduce the size of safety nets.
Safety nets are used to catch people when working on roofs, metal decking and in bridge construction, among other things. Fall safety nets are used when direct prevention of a fall is unavoidable. In contrast to personal fall protection, the freedom of movement remains fully intact.
Previously, if an existing net was larger than the area to be covered, it will have been under-rolled in the edge area, or in specific circumstance, gathered up – with the “gathers” anchored around.
From October 2023 onwards, a larger net will be rolled to dress the net to the void. This replaces the technique of gathering, which relied upon individual meshes, as this is now considered out-dated and no longer acceptable or safe for use on construction sites.