As a general best practice, the health and safety professionals at OSG do not recommend marking fall protection harnesses or writing on them at all. While some safety websites stipulate that writing on the tags only with a Sharpie-brand marker* is okay, OSG maintains that writing on any part of fall protection harnesses compromises their integrity and should not be done. OSG prides itself on setting industry-best standards for others to follow, and we do not recommend writing on the tags or any other part of a fall protection harness, particularly the webbing.
It is always OSG’s recommendation that you follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for any personal protective equipment used in your workplace, including fall arresting or fall restraint harnesses. The majority of reputable manufacturer’s do not recommend writing on any part of fall protection harnesses.
If you want to provide employees a way to label their harnesses without having to write on them, try labeled storage hooks or lockers. If your harness has a tag that is specifically for writing your name, and doesn’t have labeled equipment hooks or lockers, use a Sharpie-brand marker to neatly print your name.
*Sharpie-brand markers are currently the only tested brand of markers on the market. Using imitations or other types of markers could lead to corrosion to harnesses, which could result in catastrophic injury or fatality.