Fall-arrest PPE — periodic inspections (Italy)
A list of checks and obligations with their cadence, ready to add to your agenda.
Italian kit for employers issuing harnesses, lanyards, energy absorbers, retractable devices and anchor lines to people working at height. It covers the at-least-annual periodic inspection, withdrawal of any device not inspected for more than twelve months, the requirement for a competent person authorised by the manufacturer, the pre-use check, the equipment record sheet, withdrawal after a fall arrest and the end of the declared service life. It concerns category III PPE, the kind that guards against fatal risks.
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Ask what is in the manuals, how often the maintenance is due and what it takes to do it.
What it already has at hand
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- 7 planned checks, the most frequent every 12 months since the last inspection
Planned checks
Informative summary verified on 12/09/2026. It does not replace legal advice: the regulation cited prevails. If you spot an error, report it.
Some checks are only mandatory in certain countries: pick yours and the list follows.
- 01
Have inspections done by a competent person
The periodic inspection is not for anyone to do: it belongs to a competent person authorised by the PPE manufacturer and trained on that product's rejection criteria, because stitching, absorbers and textiles are judged by the parameters of whoever built them. The employer verifies this authorisation before giving the task, whether to an in-house person or an external service centre, and keeps a copy with the inspection reports.
continuous check, confirm every 12 monthsLegal obligationD.Lgs. 81/2008 art. 77 comma 4 lett. a); UNI EN 365:2005Italy onlySourceverified on 12/09/2026 - 02
Withdraw PPE that has arrested a fall
The event that triggers this control is the fall itself: a device that has arrested a fall, or has taken an abnormal load, must be withdrawn from use at once and not returned to service until the manufacturer or the authorised competent person declares it fit in writing. A deployed absorber and a tripped fall indicator are one-way. The employer sets out the return procedure and the immediate replacement of the device, because the site will not stop on its own.
continuous checkRecommendedUNI EN 365:2005; istruzioni per l'uso del fabbricanteItaly only - 03
Check the device before every use
Before each use the wearer visually examines their own device: stitching, webbing, connectors, fall indicator, correct locking on retractable units. This is the check that catches damage done since the last periodic inspection — a cut, a burn, an impact — and no annual interval can replace it. Manufacturers' instructions prescribe it for all fall-arrest PPE; hands-on training is what turns it into a real gesture rather than a tick-box.
continuous check, confirm every 1 monthsRecommendedUNI EN 365:2005; istruzioni per l'uso del fabbricanteItaly only - 04
Check the service life declared by the manufacturer
Textile components — harnesses, lanyards, webbing — have a service life declared by the manufacturer, running from manufacture or from first use, and it expires even if the device has sat in the store. No statute fixes that figure: it is in the product manual. The employer compares the dates on the identification sheet with the declared life at least once a year, typically alongside the periodic inspection, and schedules replacement.
continuous check, confirm every 12 monthsRecommendedUNI EN 365:2005; istruzioni per l'uso del fabbricanteItaly only - 05
Have fall-arrest PPE inspected at least every 12 months
Every harness, lanyard, energy absorber, retractable device and anchor line must undergo a periodic inspection at least once every twelve months; where the manufacturer prescribes a shorter interval — heavy use, aggressive environments, rescue duty — that one prevails. The duty is the employer's, who must keep PPE efficient and hygienic through the necessary maintenance and repairs. The outcome is recorded device by device, each identified by its serial number.
every 12 months since the last inspectionLegal obligationD.Lgs. 81/2008 art. 77 comma 4 lett. a); UNI EN 365:2005Italy onlySourceverified on 12/09/2026 - 06
Withdraw devices not inspected for over 12 months
Fall-arrest PPE that has gone more than twelve months without its periodic inspection must be taken out of service: this is not a paperwork gap to be fixed later, it is equipment that cannot be handed to a worker until it has been inspected. The employer organises the store so that an overdue device cannot be drawn — a tag, a separate area, a block in the system — and calls it back in. This is the control that turns a deadline into an operational fact.
continuous check, confirm every 6 monthsLegal obligationD.Lgs. 81/2008 art. 77 comma 4 lett. a); UNI EN 365:2005Italy onlySourceverified on 12/09/2026 - 07
Keep an identification sheet for every device
Every piece of fall-arrest PPE has an individual history: manufacturer, model, serial number, date of manufacture, dates of purchase and of first use, inspections carried out with outcome and inspector's name. Without that sheet the annual inspection cannot be tied to a specific item and the service life cannot be worked out. The employer opens it when the device is issued and updates it at each inspection, keeping it while the device is in service and for the period its own procedure sets.
continuous check, confirm every 12 monthsRecommendedUNI EN 365:2005Italy only
In France this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
In Germany this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
In Switzerland this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
In Austria this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
In United Kingdom this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
In Spain this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
In Portugal this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
In United States this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
In Other country this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
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