‘New OSHA’ should update inconsistent, confusing fall protection rules for general industry

One of the leading causes of deaths and serious injuries in American industry is falls from heights. OSHA’s regulations for general industry employers haven’t changed since OSHA started enforcing its standards in 1971.

The general industry fall protection rules I have reviewed below are inconsistent, confusing and do not address alternative protective measures that have been addressed in the construction standards (fall arrest, fall restraint, nets, etc.).

Every safety professional realizes that these regulations need to be updated and changed. Maybe the “New OSHA” will address the issue.

Here is information on the current general industry standards:

Definitions

Floor opening: An opening measuring 12 inches or more in its least dimension in any floor, platform, pavement or yard through which persons may fall. (Floor openings occupied by elevators, dumb waiters, conveyors, machinery or conveyors are excluded.)

Platform: A working space for persons elevated above the surrounding floor or ground, such as a balcony or platform for the operation of machinery or equipment.

Runway: A passageway for persons, elevated above the surrounding floor or ground such as a foot walk or a walkway.

Wall opening: An opening at least 30 inches high and 18 inches wide in any wall or partition through which persons may fall.

Stair platform: An extended step or landing breaking a continuous run of stairs.

Platform ladder: A self-supporting ladder of fixed size with a platform provided at the working level. (Also known as an A-frame ladder.)

Scaffold: Any temporary elevated platform and its supporting structure used for supporting workers.

Mobile work platform: Generally a fixed platform one frame high on casters or wheels, with bracing diagonally from platform to vertical frame.

Work level (Ladder stand or temporary elevated work platform): The elevated platform used for supporting workers.

Specific requirements for general industry

1) 1910.22(c) requires guarding to protect workers from the hazards (falls) of open pits, tanks, vats, ditches, etc.

2. 1910.23 (a) and (b) require stairway floor openings, ladderway floor openings, hatchway floor openings, chute floor openings, skylight floor openings, infrequently used pits, trapdoor floor openings, manhole floor openings and temporary floor openings, regardless of depth, to be guarded.

3. 1910.23 (b) requires every wall opening from which there Is a drop of more than four feet to be guarded.

4. 1910.23 (c) requires every open sided floor, platform or runway 4 feet or more above the adjacent floor or ground level to be guarded.

5. 1910.23 (c)(3) requires open sided floors, platforms or runways, regardless of height, that are above or adjacent to dangerous equipment to be guarded.

6. 1910.23 (d) requires guarding on open sides of every flight of stairs having four or more risers.

7. 1910.24 requires guarding on the open sides of exposed fixed industrial stairways and stair platforms (4 or more feet above adjacent floor).

8. 1910.25 and 26 do not have a guarding requirement for work conducted on portable wood or portable metal ladders. (Wood stepladders are permitted up to 20 feet, wood single ladders up to 30 feet and wood two-section ladders up to 60 feet.) (Metal single ladders may not exceed 30 feet, metal two-section ladders may not exceed 48 feet and over two-section metal ladders may not exceed 60 feet.) (Metal platform ladders may not exceed 20 feet.)

9. 1910.27 requires all landing platforms for fixed ladders to be guarded.

10. 1910.27 allows workers to climb fixed ladders (to any height) without fall protection when guarded landing platforms are provided for each 20 feet of height or fraction thereof.

11. 1910.28 requires all scaffold platforms to be guarded when they are 10 feet or more above the ground or floor.

12. 1910.29 requires that manually propelled mobile ladder stand platforms and mobile work platforms with work levels 10 feet or more above the ground be guarded.

Fall protection on vehicles

1. OSHA does not have any specific regulations covering fall protection on vehicles in General Industry.

2. OSHA issued a proposed fall protection standard, Fed. Reg. 13366, which explicitly excluded vehicles from coverage. (This standard has not been promulgated.)

3. The enforcement policy of OSHA has been that falls from rolling stock will not be cited under Subpart D of 1910.

4. OSHA’s policy has been that it would not be appropriate to use the personal protection equipment standard, 1910.132 (d) to cite exposure to fall hazards from the top of vehicles unless employees are working atop vehicles that are positioned inside of or contiguous to a building or other structure where the installation of fall protection is feasible.

In my opinion, OSHA does not presently, nor has it in its history, defined a walking/working surface to include vehicles on which employees must be located in order to perform their job duties. As an example, OSHA’s Construction Fall Protection Regulation, 1926.500, specifically excludes vehicles from its definition of a walking/working surface.