Speedy Hire, the U.K.’s leading rental company, said this week it will standardize its fleet to include Xcalibre fall arrest blocks. Created by U.K.-based Checkmate Lifting and Safety, the product, which won a Queen’s Award for Innovation this year, acts as a brake in the event of a worker falling from height.

The block is attached by a wire from the worker to the building they are working on. In the event of a fall, the wire locks to decelerate the user, reducing the impact of falls from height. The blocks are cased in polymer, which makes them lighter.

The Speedy fleet will incorporate use of the fall arrest blocks by the end of 2011.

Speedy has more than 325 U.K. branches and is based in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, England.