Fall arrest

Fall arrest is the form of fall protection which involves the safe stopping of a person already falling. It is one of several forms of fall protection, forms which also include fall guarding (general protection that prevents persons from entering a fall hazard area e.g., guard rails) and fall restraint (personal protection which prevents persons who are in a fall hazard area from falling in the first place, e.g., fall restraint lanyards).

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration specifies under Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations that individuals working at height must be protected from fall injury, and fall arrest is one of several forms of fall protection as defined within that Code.