Editor’s Note: This article is Part 2 in a series. Part 1 gave an overview of OSHA’s top 10 violations for fiscal year 2013; upcoming articles will focus on top general-industry violations and best practices for avoiding them.
Fall protection in construction (29 CFR 1926.501) was OSHA’s top violation once again in fiscal year (FY) 2013, with 8,241 violations cited. In addition, falls are consistently the most common source of injuries and fatalities in construction. So what can employers do to protect workers from falls and stay in compliance? Keep reading to find out.
Frequent citations under this standard include failure to use guardrails, safety nets, or personal fall arrest systems in residential construction; failure to protect open sides and edges; failure to prevent falls from roofs; and failure to cover holes.
What does the standard require?
If conventional fall protection strategies are not feasible for a particular jobsite, employers may develop a fall protection plan written by a qualified person that documents the reasons conventional fall protection systems are not feasible and the alternate measures that will be taken to prevent falls.
Fall Protection in Construction PowerPoint Presentation Preventing Falls in Construction Safety Meeting Fall Protection Program Plan Fall Hazard Assessment Form
Ladders and scaffolding: Separate OSHA standards
Ladders and scaffolding also present fall hazards, but OSHA has specific standards for these that are separate from the general fall protection requirements for construction. These two standards also made it into the FY 2013 top-10 list of most-cited violations.
Top violations under the scaffolding standard include not providing safe access to scaffolding surfaces, lack of fall and/or falling object protection, and lack of guardrails.
Requirements under OSHA’s construction scaffolding standard (29 CFR 1926.451) include the following:
Scaffolds in Construction PowerPoint presentation Scaffolds in Construction Handout Scaffolding Safety Plan
Falls from ladders are responsible for nearly a third of all the fall-related deaths in the construction industry. Common violations of OSHA’s construction-industry ladder standard (29 CFR 1926.1053) include damaged side rails, use of the top ladder step, using an inappropriate ladder for a job, and excessive loads on ladders.
Best practices for ladder use include the following:
Stairway and Ladder Safety in Construction Safety Meeting Stairway and Ladder Safety in Construction Quiz Stairways and Ladders Plan