Adjustments Needed to Placement of Suspension Relief Stirrups

By Employee Safety and Health â—� Oct 04, 2024

Your urgent action as a Competent Individual is needed to ensure the correct positioning of Suspension Relief Stirrups (SRS) on American fall protection harnesses.

Please disregard the current instructions for fall protection harnesses, which state that Competent Individuals should install SRS above the back and leg strap intersection.

Instead, SRS must be installed at the intersection of the back and leg straps for maximum efficacy. This new procedure was developed out of an abundance of caution and comes from American’s Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Review Board in collaboration with our safety union partners.

If the harnesses in your work environment do not have SRS, you must:

1. Remove the harnesses from service immediately
2. Tag the harnesses as out of service (Form ME-0250)
3. Order SRS (SCEPTRE 00-0601-3-2259 or MPN REL884000) from the approved PPE catalog

The video tutorial below walks you through installing and adjusting SRS properly and is a required training in Learning Hub.

This change also aligns with the updated recommended procedure from the harness manufacturer, Reliance.

A close-up look

Image 1 (left): SRS are correctly installed AT the intersection of the back and leg strap, shown on an American team member. Image 2 (right): Correct SRS harness installation is shown up close on a table.

As a reminder, only Competent Individuals may install and adjust SRS.

Watch how it’s done

Click the image above or the link below to watch the SRS installation tutorial.

How to correctly install SRS: (Video tutorial linked here)

1. Feed the SRS loop through the intersection between straps 1 and 2 (Yellow back strap 1 and Black leg strap 2) and bring it back through straps 3 and 4 (Black leg strap 4 and Yellow back strap 3).
2. Feed the stirrups through the loop and pull tight.
3. The SRS should now be secured around the two interior straps (Black leg strap 2 and Yellow back strap 3).

Contact the Employee Safety and Health team by reaching out to esh@aa.com with any questions.

Click here to view more resources on employee safety and health.

All team members play a vital role in maintaining a safe work environment. Thank you for following all directives, policies and procedures and for using safe work practices.