Glossary — M to R

Maillon Rapide / Quicklink — A type of connector formed as an open loop, which is closed by a threaded sleeve.

MCG — Major Contractors Group.

MHSW — Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

Minimum Breaking Load (MBL) — See also Failure Load (FL), Breaking Load (BL). The minimum breaking load of an item of equipment when it is tested, new, under specific conditions.

MSDS Sheet — Materials Safety Data Sheet, sometimes referred to as the COSHH Sheet. Information sheet detailing the appropriate PPE that should be worn whilst using a particular chemical.

N — Newton. The SI unit of force. 9.81 N is the force required to suspend a mass of 1 kg under the force of gravity. It is commonly approximated to 10 N (in common parlance 1 kg = 10 N).

Peak Impact Force (PIF) — The force applied to the body, PPE and the anchor point when a fall is arrested. The PIF is calculated by multiplying the mass of an object by acceleration over the distance fallen and is expressed in Newtons. All fall arrest systems should reduce the PIF to a maximum of 6 kN.

PPE — Personal Protective Equipment.

prEN — A provisional, or preparatory, EN, yet to be finalised. Levels of revision are dated.

Proof Load — A test load applied to verify that an item of equipment would not exhibit permanent deformation under that load, at that particular time. The result can then be related to the performance of the test piece under its expected conditions of service.

PSMA — Personal Safety Manufacturers Association.

Pull-Through — A method of installing or retrieving ropes from a position where safe access to the belay point is not possible.

PUWER — Provision & Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.

RIDDOR — Reporting of Injuries, Diseases & Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995.

Risk Assessment — A careful, systematic examination of the hazards in your place of work that could cause harm to people or damage plant or property.

Rope Access — A technique normally incorporating two separately secured rope systems, a harness and other devices, for getting to and from the place of work and for work positioning.

Rope Adjustment Device — A device which, when fitted to an anchor line, will enable the user to vary their position along it.

Running Belay — A method of reducing the Fall Factor and, more importantly, the Fall Height whilst lead climbing a structure using dynamic belaying techniques. The dynamic climbing rope is clipped into carabiners attached to the structure at regular intervals as the operative physically climbs up the structure.