Osha Roof Harness Requirements

Employees should wear footwear to reduce slipping and employers should either eliminate slipping hazards or have workers avoid them.

Osha roof harness requirements.

To meet osha requirements in the construction industry employers must provide workers with fall protection whenever they work at heights of six feet or more above a lower level 29 cfr 1926 501 b 1. Or personal fall protection. Safe access to a roof requires careful planning particularly where work progresses along the roof. Osha 1910 28 b 1 i 1910 23 a 4 ibc1015 7 roof access.

Top rails and midrails shall be at least one quarter inch 0 6 cm nominal diameter or thickness to prevent cuts and lacerations. Osha requires roof surfaces to have inspections for slip hazards. Many accidents could be avoided if the most suitable equipment was used and those doing the work were given adequate information instruction training and supervision. As far as osha is concerned there is no safe distance from the edge of a roof so you must be protected.

Working six feet or more above lower levels put roofers at risk for serious injury or death if they should fall. Fall protection requirements falls are the leading cause of work related injuries and deaths among roofers. Roof edge protection is considered a passive fall prevention barrier because once erected or installed it requires no further on going adjustment alteration or operation by any person to ensure the integrity of the system to perform its function. Place warning lines and headers around the entire roof perimeter.

This means that you must have rails fall arrest systems or a warning line safety monitor setup no matter where it is you are working. Lay headers sheets of roofing or other materials no closer than 5 feet inside the edges of the roof and parallel to the roofline. Scaffolding and brackets can be effective roof edge protection. A lack of fall protection damaged fall protection equipment or improper setup will increase their risk of falling from height.

Install warning lines no closer than 5 feet inside the roof edges and at a height of 34 to 45 inches. A personal fall arrest system safety harness is required by osha whenever the employee is 6 feet above ground and is not protected by a guardrail or safety net during the assembly or removal of scaffolding with incomplete handrails systems and more than 10 feet above the ground and when using any aerial equipment that raises the employee higher than 6 feet. If wire rope is used for top rails it shall be flagged at not more than 6 foot intervals with high visibility material.