EN 358 sets the requirements for work positioning and restraint belts and lanyards. It has two legitimate uses: holding a worker in position so both hands are free, and restraining movement so the edge cannot be reached.
An absolute prohibition
An EN 358 belt is never used for fall arrest. In a fall the entire force is taken at the waist, causing spinal and internal injury and inverting the body. That is why the standard limits free fall to 0.5 m.
Correct use
In practice an EN 358 belt is nearly always combined with an EN 361 harness in a single product with both functions. The worker uses the side D-rings for positioning and a separate system attached to the dorsal or sternal A point for fall arrest.
The side D-rings are always used as a pair — the lanyard passes from one ring around the pole or mast to the other, giving a symmetrical load.
