OSHA Fall Protection for General Industry

Yes. A qualified person must train employees on the fall protections systems they use. The training must include information on:

• How to recognize the fall hazards in the work area;
• How to minimize these fall hazards; and
• How to correctly install, set up, inspect, operate/use, maintain, disassemble, and/or store the fall protection.

OSHA banned the use of body belts as part of a personal fall arrest system in 1998 because full-body harnesses provide better suspension support because they distribute arresting/impact forces over a larger area of a worker’s body than body belts. As such, 1910.140(d)(3) retains OSHA’s 1998 prohibition on the use of body belts as part of a personal fall arrest system, but does allow their use in travel restraint systems, positioning devices (or work-positioning systems), and ladder safety systems.

OSHA requires that fall protection be provided when working four feet or more above a lower level. This essentially includes all walking-working surfaces (e.g., roofs, mezzanines, platforms, etc.), except:

• Portable ladders;
• Fixed ladders 24 feet or less above a lower level;
• Dangerous equipment; and
• Repair pits, service pits, and assembly pits less than 10 feet deep.

The type of fall protection required is dependent upon the fall hazard or work situation outlined in 1910.28, “Duty to have fall protection and falling object protection.”

No, OSHA only allows a designated area in lieu of conventional fall protection for work that is taking place on low-sloped roofs. On other working surfaces, some form of conventional fall protection, e.g., railings or personal fall protection systems, must be used. See 1910.28(b)(13).

No. But when the current fall protection rule first came out, and even today, some employees believed workers must tie off to a ladder if they were six feet or more up the ladder. What would happen if an employee fell? The fall would be bad enough but the ladder coming down on top of the worker would even be worse. If the ladder or stairway is set up safely, according to the OSHA rules, and used properly, the ladder or stairway is safe and that is the fall protection.