When you’re appointing a safety netting contractor, the stakes are about as high as they get in construction. Safety netting is a last line of defence against fatal falls from height — the kind of incident that ends lives, triggers HSE investigations, and results in prosecutions that can reach the highest levels of a principal contractor’s organisation. Choosing a contractor on price alone, without understanding what their accreditation actually means, is a risk that no responsible site manager or health and safety professional should accept.
Red Safety Netting holds FASET accreditation for all operatives. Here’s what that means in practice, and why it matters to you.
What FASET Is
FASET — the Fall Arrest Safety Equipment Training organisation — is the industry body that sets standards for the installation, inspection, and maintenance of safety netting systems in the UK. It exists because safety netting, when installed incorrectly, doesn’t just fail to protect — it can create a false sense of security that makes a fatal fall more likely, not less.
What Mansafe Netting Actually Does — and Why Installation Quality Matters
Mansafe safety netting is a passive fall arrest system installed beneath working areas to catch operatives in the event of a fall. When it’s correctly installed, tensioned, and anchored, it absorbs the energy of a fall and prevents the operative from hitting the structure or ground below. When it’s incorrectly installed — wrong tension, inadequate anchorages, incorrect net type for the application — it may not perform as designed at the moment it’s needed most.
The difference between a correctly installed Mansafe system and an incorrectly installed one isn’t always visible to the untrained eye. That’s precisely why the competence of the installer matters so much, and why FASET’s training and certification requirements exist. Every Red Safety Netting operative is FASET accredited, which means they’ve been trained specifically in the installation requirements for safety netting systems, assessed against a defined standard, and are required to keep their competence current.
Documentation That Protects You
A FASET-compliant installation doesn’t just protect workers — it protects the principal contractor. Every system Red Safety Netting installs is documented from the outset. Pre-installation checks are recorded. Anchorage positions and net tensions are logged. Inspection schedules are maintained throughout the period the netting is in place. When the system is removed, the record exists.
In the event of an incident — or an HSE inspection — that documentation demonstrates that the fall protection system was installed by competent, accredited operatives, maintained to the required standard, and inspected at the required intervals. That’s the difference between being able to demonstrate due diligence and not being able to.
Inspection and Maintenance Throughout the Project
Safety netting doesn’t stay in installation condition indefinitely. UV exposure, weather, debris accumulation, and the activity of trades working around the nets all affect their condition over time. FASET requirements include regular inspection of installed systems — checking for damage, verifying that anchorages remain secure, and confirming that the system continues to perform to its design specification.
Red Safety Netting manages this inspection schedule throughout every project. Principal contractors and site managers receive documented inspection records, giving them ongoing confidence that the fall protection system on their site is maintained — not just installed and forgotten.
Choosing the Right Contractor — What to Ask
When you’re appointing a safety netting contractor, the questions worth asking are straightforward. Are your operatives FASET accredited and is that accreditation current? Can you provide documentation of your installation procedures and inspection schedule? Are you familiar with the specific netting system required for this application? Can you provide references from comparable projects?
Red Safety Netting answers yes to all of these. We’ve worked across new build residential developments, commercial construction, industrial facilities, and public sector projects. Our operatives hold FASET, CISRS, IPAF, and CSCS qualifications. And our documentation gives the principal contractor the audit trail they need throughout the project.
If you’d like to discuss fall protection requirements for your next project or request our pre-qualification documentation, contact the Red Safety Netting team today.
