# Safety harness inspection checklist template > Free safety harness inspection checklist for detailed and interim inspections, webbing to fittings. Download it as PDF, Word or Excel with your logo. > Web page: https://complyonsite.com/tools/inspection-checklist-template?kind=harness Free, no account Free, no account ## Choose a design ## Detailed and interim inspection after INDG367 [HSE’s INDG367](https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg367.pdf) is written about lanyards and says its principles can also apply to harnesses. It sets out three levels, and the sheet records the two with a record. - **Pre-use check**: Each time, by the user, by touch and by eye. It takes a few minutes. - **Detailed inspection**: At least every six months. At least every three months if used often in arduous work such as demolition, steel erection or scaffolding. - **Interim inspection**: Between the two, where something could cause significant damage first, such as paint, chemicals or grit blasting. Six months is HSE’s recommendation. [The law](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/735/regulation/12/made) says suitable intervals. ## What to look for Webbing, then stitching, then hardware. Pass the harness and lanyard slowly through your hands, in good light. ### Identity - Unique ID, indelibly marked - Not marked to old BS 1397:1979 - Last inspection within six months - Has never arrested a fall ### Webbing and stitching - Cuts of 1 mm or more at edges - Abrasion: face, loops and edges - Softening or hardening of fibres - Chemical attack, flaking, colour change - Heat or friction, glazed fibres - UV: colour loss, powdery surface - Contamination: dirt, grit, sand, paint - Stitching cut or abraded ### Lanyard and energy absorber - No knot the maker did not intend - Energy absorber not part deployed - Protective sleeve in place, undamaged - Label present ### Fittings - Karabiners, screwlinks, scaffold hooks sound - Karabiner gates undamaged - Harness fittings (buckles, D-rings) ### Rope, if fitted - Kernmantel sheath and core, no rucking - Cable-laid rope, no internal damage - Other parts, per the maker’s instructions ## When a harness comes out of use The sheet ends in Pass, Withdraw or Refer. Any of these four means Withdraw. - It has arrested a fall. HSE says it should never be reused. - It has no unique ID. - It is marked to the old BS 1397:1979. - Its last inspection was more than six months ago. INDG367 finds no clear boundary for usable life, so the sheet prints no age limit. Any limit comes from the maker. ## Harness checklist questions ### Is a harness inspection a thorough examination? No. HSE calls it a detailed inspection. A thorough examination is a LOLER term. A harness used to lift people, as an arborist’s can be, falls under [LOLER regulation 9](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/2307/regulation/9/made) and needs a report, which this sheet is not. ### Does a harness inspection need recording? Yes for detailed and interim inspections. [The result is kept](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/735/regulation/12/made) until the next one is on record, and each harness needs a unique ID that ties it to its paperwork. ### Does a pass prove the harness is strong enough? No. It shows nothing was found. [INDG367](https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg367.pdf) reports that a 1 mm cut at the edge of a lanyard can cost it 5 to 40% of its strength, depending on the make, which is why such a cut is a failed line. ### Does the sheet cover anchor points? No. It covers the harness, the lanyard and their fittings. INDG367 does not cover anchor points. For a ladder, a machine or lifting gear, start from the [inspection checklist template](https://complyonsite.com/tools/inspection-checklist-template).