3M, formerly Capital Safety, has released yet another safety recall for tower climbers. The recall forced the National Association of Tower Erectors to send emails to its members encouraging them to consult the official recall notice. The subject of the recall, Zorbit Energy Absorber, is used with horizontal lifeline systems to limit fall arrest forces on the worker in the event of a fall. 3M Fall Protection has identified a production issue with its Zorbit Energy Absorbers that creates a risk of serious injury or death for a tower climber who falls from height.
Although there have been no reported accidents or injuries associated with this issue, 3M Fall Protection is recalling a limited lot range of the Energy Absorber and will replace affected Zorbits. The recall applies only to Zorbit Energy Absorbers with lot codes between 2101506 and 2464624 manufactured between March and August 2015. Zorbits with other lot codes are not affected by this notice and are safe to use, according to 3M.
The location of the lot code on the Zorbit is shown by the red arrow in the above photograph. The part number for the affected Zorbit Energy Absorber is 7401013. This part can be sold individually or as part of a system. Systems that use the Zorbit include:
- Sayfline Permanent Multi-Span Horizontal Lifeline System;
- SecuraSpan I-BeamHorizontal Lifeline System; and
- SecuraSpan Pour-in-Place Horizontal Lifeline System End-users: According to 3M, before next use of your horizontal lifeline system, you must inspect the system to determine if you have an affected Zorbit. If you find an affected Zorbit in your system, please remove the Zorbit and lock the system out and use alternative fall protection.
Those who own products that fall under the recall are advised to contact 3M’s customer service department for a replacement Zorbit Retrofit Kit #7401022 that will be shipped without charge.
3M recently sent out a similar return and replace recall notice for its Lad-Saf sleeve due to potential misuse scenarios that could lead to injury or death.
