We have sometimes received enquiries from potential customers asking us whether S-type safety nets and walk-on nets are the same thing. The answer is no.

S-Type safety nets and Walk-On Net: Standards

S-type safety nets accomplish the EN 1263.1 standard for their manufacture and EN 1263.2 for their installation. Walk-on nets (also known as Tensioned Access Platform nets, or TAP nets) are a system of nets and other elements that are not yet governed by an international standard (which is in preparation) and for which there are simply a series of instructions/recommendations issued by some entities such as the German BG BAU or the British FASET.

S-Type safety nets and Walk-On Net: Utility

Safety nets are used to prevent people from falling from a certain height or to arrest them from falling if they do fall. In the specific case of S-type nets, their function is the latter.

Walk-on nets, on the other hand, are a series of nets installed in such a way that their main function is to create a semi-rigid walkable working platform on which workers can move and perform various tasks. It is not a system originally created to stop people falling from a certain height, as they are tensioned and would not behave like an S-type and could cause damage to the worker as they do not practically allow the net to deform and therefore absorb part of the energy of the impact.

S-Type safety nets and Walk-On Net: Composition

For the S-type system, we use S-type safety nets, elements for fastening them to the surrounding structure (tie-down ropes, metal anchors, etc.) and sometimes elements for joining the nets themselves (coupling ropes) when it is necessary to join nets together without making an overlap.

For the walk-on nets system, we would use an S-type safety net, preferably made of 45 mm mesh due to its high resistance and in order to prevent operators’ feet from easily slipping through the net when walking, and for its installation and tensioning we would use 30 kN tie ropes and 55 kN tensioning straps + ratchets, forming a grid of squares no more than 2m on a side.

In both systems the installation must follow the current regulations or existing recommendations and secondly the installation manual supplied by the manufacturer.

For any questions you may have regarding any of these systems, please do not hesitate to contact us. We will be pleased to assist you.