Safety Tidbit 3.17 - Walking-Working Surfaces

Safety Tidbit 3.17 – Walking-Working Surfaces

Reference: OSHA Fact Sheet – Walking Working Surfaces

About a year ago (effective date January 17, 2017), OSHA made it very simple for general industry. The new Walking-Working Surfaces Rule requires employers to protect workers from fall hazards along unprotected sides or edges that are at least 4 feet above a lower level [1910.28(b)(1)(i)].

Under the final rule, employers may choose from the following fall protection options:

·       Guardrail System – A barrier erected along an unprotected or exposed side, edge, or other area of a walking-working surface to prevent workers from falling to a lower level.

·       Safety Net System – A horizontal or semi-horizontal, cantilever-style barrier that uses a netting system to stop falling workers before they make contact with a lower level or obstruction.

·       Personal Fall Arrest System – A system that arrests/stops a fall before the worker contacts a lower level. Consists of a body harness, anchorage, and connector, and may include a lanyard, deceleration device, lifeline, or a suitable combination. Like OSHA’s construction standards, the final rule prohibits the use of body belts as part of a personal fall arrest system.

·       Positioning System – A system of equipment and connectors that, when used with a body harness or body belt, allows a worker to be supported on an elevated vertical surface, such as a wall or window sill, and work with both hands free.

·       Travel Restraint System – A combination of an anchorage, anchorage connector, lanyard (or other means of connection), and body support to eliminate the possibility of a worker going over the unprotected edge or side of a walking-working surface.

·       Ladder Safety System – A system attached to a fixed ladder designed to eliminate or reduce the possibility of a worker falling off the ladder. A ladder safety system usually consists of a carrier, safety sleeve, lanyard, connectors, and body harness. Cages and wells are not considered ladder safety systems.

As you can see, the employer has several options. I, personally, like the guardrail system because like machine guarding this keeps the worker from falling and does not rely on human intervention. Interestingly, a point that I did not see in the standard was for the employer to have a written fall protection plan to formalize their risk assessment and controls. As an IH, everything can be boiled down to: Anticipation, Recognition, Evaluation, and Control.

Hope this was helpful and thanks for reading my Safety Tidbits! Comments and questions are always welcome. ~ Bryan

P.S. If you have an interesting safety or health question please let me know.