Construction’s Fastest Net Recovery System

What would you do in this scenario? You’re on a construction site working at height when one of your colleagues falls unconscious or injured into a safety net. How would you rescue them? And how long do you think the rescue would take?

In these cases, rescue is often overlooked because people don’t think about having to recover a casualty. Usually, if someone falls into a net colleagues are on hand to help them climb out. 

Most method statements lack any real detail on the actual steps to take in rescuing someone in life-threatening instances such as injury or a heart attack.

What we know from experience, is the faster the recovery – the greater chance of survival.  That’s why Brilliant Ideas Ltd developed a unique inflatable Safety Net Recovery System. It’s the fastest on the market and will help you to rescue your colleague after a fall from height in around 3-minutes, potentially saving their life.

Why is safety netting used on construction sites?

Safety netting on construction sites makes it easy for workers to go about their jobs when they are working at height without slowing them down or restricting them – just as their colleagues do when working on the ground.

Construction safety nets are also known as fall arrest safety nets or soft-landing systems. Safety netting is positioned directly beneath the construction work area, so if someone falls, the net will catch them and absorb their impact. Safety netting is never going to stop someone from falling, but if they do, the likelihood of serious injury will be lower because of their soft-landing into a net. The real challenge comes when the person in the net can’t get themselves out.

How do you rescue someone from safety netting? 

Current recovery practices for rescuing someone from safety netting is usually complex and time-consuming because it typically involves the use of MEWPs or Scissor Lifts. But even this can be an impossible challenge because often safety netting is set-up in enclosed spaces or rooms where walls have been put up, so the powered access equipment isn’t available because there’s no way in. Other rescue systems include offering up a ladder or scaffold board to the operative waiting in the net.

We talked to the fire service during our own product development to find out what their procedure would be if they were called out to rescue an injured or unconscious casualty from a safety net. They told us that on arrival to site they would have to complete an 'on the spot' dynamic risk assessment before attempting rescue – and in an event like this a generic assessment wouldn’t be enough to determine the risks involved.

But as we know, quick recovery is vital with heart attacks, fits and blood loss and waiting for rescue can expose the casualty in the net to dangerously cold temperatures. Without CPR, cardiac arrest can be fatal within minutes. Even if the paramedics, fire brigade or a colleague could get to them, performing lifesaving resuscitation in a net would be virtually unworkable reducing the likelihood of a successful outcome.

Okay, so what are the chances of a colleague falling injured or unwell into a net? Probably quite slim, to be fair. But if it did happen, the speed and simplicity of our system would enable you to rescue them very quickly which is why we believe it should become part of a working at height arsenal in the same way a defibrillator is. How often is a defibrillator used on site? Most likely, not often at all – but there’s always one on hand, should the need arise.

Where would you use safety netting?

Typically safety netting is used as fall protection on hollowcore or metal deck floors on steel frame or precast cross wall structures. Safety netting needs to be installed as close as possible underneath the surface to where people are working.

What are the different types of safety net recovery systems

Different types of safety net recovery systems include edge protection and scaffolding, mobile working platforms, safety nets and harnesses. But these rarely take into account being able to rescue a casualty.

Totally unique, our system is construction’s fastest way of recovering someone from netting who can’t get themselves out. Rescue, using this life-saving innovation, takes just 3-minutes.

It’s available for hire in two sizes with recovery from a floor-to-floor height of around 2.5m, and 4.5m.

How do you use Brilliant Ideas inflatable system?

We offer free training on how to use it at our Training Centre in Derbyshire, or on your site.

It comes as a standard kit of parts, stored in a zipped kitbag. Weighing 35kgs, it comes with a custom-made stair climber trolley.

Here’s how easy it is to use:

Inflating the airbag

• The airbag, with its inbuilt stretcher, is fully inflated directly underneath the casualty in the net using battery powered blowers – in just over 1-minute. 
• As the airbag inflates, it creates a safe high sided parapet to make sure the casualty doesn’t roll out during decent. 
• When the airbag is inflated, powered cutters are used to free the safety netting.

Deflating the airbag

• Deflation takes around 2-minutes by opening side zips to accelerate air loss from the system held stable by operatives holding the handles around it until the casualty is safely on the ground.
• If the paramedics haven’t yet arrived on site and circumstances require it, the stretcher can be unclipped and carried closer to the site entrance saving valuable seconds.
• The kit of parts come with a first aid kit and foil blankets to keep the casualty warm.
• See it in action Net Recovery Interview on Vimeo