What is a Safety Breakaway on a Branded Lanyard?
Lanyards are usually fitted around the neck, or clipped to a piece of clothing or bag. This makes them handy, but it also means that they can be hazardous if they catch on something. This is why many lanyards come with a safety breakaway clip. It is a piece of plastic which detaches itself and breaks when there is excessive force applied.
In the event that the lanyard catches on something, or someone pulls too hard on the lanyard (accidentally or deliberately), this force causes the clip to open releasing the lanyard. Most Lanyard Planet custom branded lanyards have breakaway clips available as an option, and some models have them as standard.
Useful and safe
This breakaway function is part of what makes a lanyard such a useful device. Some of the situations in which this clip is useful include
- Catching - if the lanyard catches on anything, the breakaway clip will prevent this shock from being transferred to the lanyard's wearer.
- Falls - if falling, the lanyard can't catch on anything. Likewise, a falling person can reflectively try to grab someone's lanyard. if that happens, the clip will prevent that from causing harm.
- Security workers - lanyard cannot be used as a weapon against them.
- Hospital personnel - people in pain or shock can attempt to grab hold of lanyards.
- School and childcare workers - while adults generally won't deliberately pull on a lanyard, younger children often don't know better.
- Machinery - should the lanyard be caught in machinery, it will simply break away.
