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Frictape helideck landing nets and safety nets are designed and manufactured in Finland by A-Laskuvarjo, an innovative, family-owned textile engineering company. Frictape nets advocate the safety of offshore helicopter transport.
Ultra-durable landing and perimeter nettings secure helidecks on offshore structures and seagoing vessels, preventing helicopters from sliding and personnel from falling overboard.
Helideck landing nets and helideck perimeter nets
Frictape nets are currently the only material and design in the market with offshore type approvals for both helideck landing nets and helideck perimeter nets. Originally developed for cargo nets, parachutes and arresting barriers, Frictape material and design have been in use for over 15 years.
Synthetic materials for safe, strong helideck nettings
The unique material used in Frictape nets far outperforms traditional rope and steel mesh structures, providing an optimal combination of strength, durability and lightness. Frictape helideck nettings feature a completely balanced zero-deformation, zero-bounce structure for increased safety.
Frictape landing nets provide higher friction than traditional rope nettings, and will not deform or distort regardless of the weather. As the net always stays in its form, there is no need for constant tightening and loosening. Low profile knotless structure increases safety and convenience of walking and enables the use of wheeled carriages.
Frictape perimeter safety nets far exceed the strength required by industry standards. Custom-made for exact fit, Frictape nets are directly attached to the helideck structure with fail-safe braiding using the same material, resulting in completely balanced strength. Frictape nets produce a hammock effect, absorbing the kinetic energy of falling objects or persons and recovering to their original form after tension.
Durable helideck safety nettings
Frequent renewal of helideck safety nettings is naturally good for security. However, offshore installation projects tend to be difficult and expensive; the cost of installation often exceeds the cost of equipment. Therefore, developing better performing and longer lasting materials and designs is vital. The longest possible durability and the highest possible level of safety should be the key concerns.
While ropes only last for one to two years, the best synthetic materials meet their specifications for five to ten years. As longer lifetime translates into fewer installation projects, total cost of ownership calculations have increased interest for non-traditional solutions. From financial and safety perspectives, low-quality materials should not be accepted, even for free.
Better helideck safety nettings through improved testing
The purpose of standards is to state the minimum requirements. When it comes to safety, the responsible planning method is not to fulfill standards but to respond to real-life needs. It is important to ensure that the structure and strength of safety products is well balanced and the installation method should be fail-safe to ensure correct operation.
Requirements for helideck safety nettings are now becoming more stringent, with the UK authorities leading the way. A crucial part of ensuring safety is to regularly test the materials for remaining strength; safety products can’t simply be installed and forgotten.
Perimeter safety net testing
The traditional testing method for perimeter safety nets has been to throw sand bags in the net to see if the net holds. This method is problematic in many ways and can lead to fatal accidents.
A novel method for testing is to include extra straps in the nettings, one of which can be detached at regular intervals and sent to labs. Results tell the exact current strength of the material, and comparing them with long-term field testing data enables the estimation of the net’s remaining lifetime.
Over 500 Frictape nettings have been installed on helidecks across the world. Frictape customers include BP, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Shell and Statoil, among others.