- Part
Number: 1926
- Part
Title: Safety and Health Regulations for Construction
- Subpart:
M
- Subpart
Title: Fall Protection
- Standard
Number: 1926.500
- Title:
Scope, application, and definitions applicable to this subpart.
1926.500(a)
Scope and application.
1926.500(a)(1)
This
subpart sets forth requirements and criteria for fall protection
in construction workplaces covered under 29 CFR part 1926. Exception:
The provisions of this subpart do not apply when employees are
making an inspection, investigation, or assessment of workplace
conditions prior to the actual start of construction work or
after all construction work has been completed.
1926.500(a)(2)
Section
1926.501 sets forth those workplaces, conditions, operations,
and circumstances for which fall protection shall be provided
except as follows:
1926.500(a)(2)(i)
Requirements
relating to fall protection for employees working on scaffolds
are provided in subpart L of this part.
1926.500(a)(2)(ii)
Requirements
relating to fall protection for employees working on certain
cranes and derricks are provided in subpart N of this part.
..1926.500(a)(2)(iii)
1926.500(a)(2)(iii)
Fall
protection requirements for employees performing steel erection
work (except for towers and tanks) are provided in subpart R
of this part.
1926.500(a)(2)(iv)
Section
1926.502 does not apply to the erection of tanks and communication
and broadcast towers. (Note: Section 1926.104 sets the criteria
for body belts, lanyards and lifelines used for fall protection
during tank and communication and broadcast tower erection.
Paragraphs (b),(c) and (f) of § 1926.107 provide definitions
for the pertinent terms.)
1926.500(a)(2)(v)
Requirements
relating to fall protection for employees engaged in the erection
of tanks and communication and broadcast towers are provided
in § 1926.105.
1926.500(a)(2)(vi)
Requirements
relating to fall protection for employees engaged in the construction
of electric transmission and distribution lines and equipment
are provided in subpart V of this part.
1926.500(a)(2)(vii)
Requirements
relating to fall protection for employees working on stairways
and ladders are provided in subpart X of this part.
1926.500(a)(3)
Section
1926.502 sets forth the requirements for the installation, construction,
and proper use of fall protection required by part 1926, except
as follows:
1926.500(a)(3)(i)
Performance
requirements for guardrail systems used on scaffolds and performance
requirements for falling object protection used on scaffolds
are provided in subpart L of this part.
1926.500(a)(3)(ii)
Performance
requirements for stairways, stairrail systems, and handrails
are provided in subpart X of this part.
..1926.500(a)(3)(iii)
1926.500(a)(3)(iii)
Additional
performance requirements for personal climbing equipment, lineman's
body belts, safety straps, and lanyards are provided in Subpart
V of this part.
1926.500(a)(3)(iv)
Section
1926.502 does not apply to steel erection activities. (Note:
Section 1926.104 sets the criteria for body belts, lanyards
and lifelines used for fall protection in steel erection activities.
Paragraphs (b), (c) and (f) of 1926.107 provide definitions
for the pertinent terms).
1926.500(a)(4)
Section
1926.503 sets forth requirements for training in the installation
and use of fall protection systems, except in relation to steel
erection activities.
1926.500(b)
Definitions.
Anchorage means a secure point of attachment
for lifelines, lanyards or deceleration devices.
Body belt (safety belt) means a strap
with means both for securing it about the waist and for attaching
it to a lanyard, lifeline, or deceleration device.
Body harness means straps which may be
secured about the employee in a manner that will distribute
the fall arrest forces over at least the thighs, pelvis, waist,
chest and shoulders with means for attaching it to other components
of a personal fall arrest system.
Buckle means any device for holding the
body belt or body harness closed around the employee's body.
Connector means a device which is used
to couple (connect) parts of the personal fall arrest system
and positioning device systems together. It may be an independent
component of the system, such as a carabiner, or it may be an
integral component of part of the system (such as a buckle or
dee-ring sewn into a body belt or body harness, or a snap-hook
spliced or sewn to a lanyard or self-retracting lanyard).
Controlled access zone (CAZ) means an
area in which certain work (e.g., overhand bricklaying) may
take place without the use of guardrail systems, personal fall
arrest systems, or safety net systems and access to the zone
is controlled.
Dangerous equipment means equipment (such
as pickling or galvanizing tanks, degreasing units, machinery,
electrical equipment, and other units) which, as a result of
form or function, may be hazardous to employees who fall onto
or into such equipment.
Deceleration device means any mechanism,
such as a rope grab, rip-stitch lanyard, specially-woven lanyard,
tearing or deforming lanyards, automatic self-retracting lifelines/lanyards,
etc., which serves to dissipate a substantial amount of energy
during a fall arrest, or otherwise limit the energy imposed
on an employee during fall arrest.
Deceleration distance means the additional
vertical distance a falling employee travels, excluding lifeline
elongation and free fall distance, before stopping, from the
point at which the deceleration device begins to operate. It
is measured as the distance between the location of an employee's
body belt or body harness attachment point at the moment of
activation (at the onset of fall arrest forces) of the deceleration
device during a fall, and the location of that attachment point
after the employee comes to a full stop.
Equivalent means alternative designs,
materials, or methods to protect against a hazard which the
employer can demonstrate will provide an equal or greater degree
of safety for employees than the methods, materials or designs
specified in the standard.
Failure means load refusal, breakage,
or separation of component parts. Load refusal is the point
where the ultimate strength is exceeded.
Free fall means the act of falling before
a personal fall arrest system begins to apply force to arrest
the fall.
Free fall distance means the vertical
displacement of the fall arrest attachment point on the employee's
body belt or body harness between onset of the fall and just
before the system begins to apply force to arrest the fall.
This distance excludes deceleration distance, and lifeline/lanyard
elongation, but includes any deceleration device slide distance
or self-retracting lifeline/lanyard extension before they operate
and fall arrest forces occur.
Guardrail system means a barrier erected
to prevent employees from falling to lower levels.
Hole means a gap or void 2 inches (5.1
cm) or more in its least dimension, in a floor, roof, or other
walking/working surface.
Infeasible means that it is impossible
to perform the construction work using a conventional fall protection
system (i.e., guardrail system, safety net system, or personal
fall arrest system) or that it is technologically impossible
to use any one of these systems to provide fall protection.
Lanyard means a flexible line of rope,
wire rope, or strap which generally has a connector at each
end for connecting the body belt or body harness to a deceleration
device, lifeline, or anchorage.
Leading edge means the edge of a floor,
roof, or formwork for a floor or other walking/working surface
(such as the deck) which changes location as additional floor,
roof, decking, or formwork sections are placed, formed, or constructed.
A leading edge is considered to be an "unprotected side
and edge" during periods when it is not actively and continuously
under construction.
Lifeline means a component consisting
of a flexible line for connection to an anchorage at one end
to hang vertically (vertical lifeline), or for connection to
anchorages at both ends to stretch horizontally (horizontal
lifeline), and which serves as a means for connecting other
components of a personal fall arrest system to the anchorage.
Low-slope roof means a roof having a
slope less than or equal to 4 in 12 (vertical to horizontal).
Lower levels means those areas or surfaces
to which an employee can fall. Such areas or surfaces include,
but are not limited to, ground levels, floors, platforms, ramps,
runways, excavations, pits, tanks, material, water, equipment,
structures, or portions thereof.
Mechanical equipment means all motor
or human propelled wheeled equipment used for roofing work,
except wheelbarrows and mopcarts.
Opening means a gap or void 30 inches
(76 cm) or more high and 18 inches (48 cm) or more wide, in
a wall or partition, through which employees can fall to a lower
level.
Overhand bricklaying and related work
means the process of laying bricks and masonry units such that
the surface of the wall to be jointed is on the opposite side
of the wall from the mason, requiring the mason to lean over
the wall to complete the work. Related work includes mason tending
and electrical installation incorporated into the brick wall
during the overhand bricklaying process.
Personal fall arrest system means a system
used to arrest an employee in a fall from a working level. It
consists of an anchorage, connectors, a body belt or body harness
and may include a lanyard, deceleration device, lifeline, or
suitable combinations of these. As of January 1, 1998, the use
of a body belt for fall arrest is prohibited.
Positioning device system means a body
belt or body harness system rigged to allow an employee to be
supported on an elevated vertical surface, such as a wall, and
work with both hands free while leaning.
Rope grab means a deceleration device
which travels on a lifeline and automatically, by friction,
engages the lifeline and locks so as to arrest the fall of an
employee. A rope grab usually employs the principle of inertial
locking, cam/level locking, or both.
Roof means the exterior surface on the
top of a building. This does not include floors or formwork
which, because a building has not been completed, temporarily
become the top surface of a building.
Roofing work means the hoisting, storage,
application, and removal of roofing materials and equipment,
including related insulation, sheet metal, and vapor barrier
work, but not including the construction of the roof deck.
Safety-monitoring system means a safety
system in which a competent person is responsible for recognizing
and warning employees of fall hazards.
Self-retracting lifeline/lanyard means
a deceleration device containing a drum-wound line which can
be slowly extracted from, or retracted onto, the drum under
slight tension during normal employee movement, and which, after
onset of a fall, automatically locks the drum and arrests the
fall.
Snaphook means a connector comprised
of a hook-shaped member with a normally closed keeper, or similar
arrangement, which may be opened to permit the hook to receive
an object and, when released, automatically closes to retain
the object. Snaphooks are generally one of two types:
1926.500(b)(1)
The
locking type with a self-closing, self-locking keeper which
remains closed and locked until unlocked and pressed open for
connection or disconnection; or
1926.500(b)(2)
The
non-locking type with a self-closing keeper which remains closed
until pressed open for connection or disconnection. As of January
1, 1998, the use of a non-locking snaphook as part of personal
fall arrest systems and positioning device systems is prohibited.
Steep roof means a roof having a slope
greater than 4 in 12 (vertical to horizontal).
Toeboard means a low protective barrier
that will prevent the fall of materials and equipment to lower
levels and provide protection from falls for personnel.
Unprotected sides and edges means any
side or edge (except at entrances to points of access) of a
walking/working surface, e.g., floor, roof, ramp, or runway
where there is no wall or guardrail system at least 39 inches
(1.0 m) high.
Walking/working surface means any surface,
whether horizontal or vertical on which an employee walks or
works, including, but not limited to, floors, roofs, ramps,
bridges, runways, formwork and concrete reinforcing steel but
not including ladders, vehicles, or trailers, on which employees
must be located in order to perform their job duties.
Warning line system means a barrier erected
on a roof to warn employees that they are approaching an unprotected
roof side or edge, and which designates an area in which roofing
work may take place without the use of guardrail, body belt,
or safety net systems to protect employees in the area.
Work area means that portion of a walking/working
surface where job duties are being performed.
[44
FR 8577, Feb. 9, 1979; 44 FR 20940, Apr. 6, 1979, as amended
at 45 FR 75625, Nov. 14. 1980; 55 FR 47687, Nov. 14, 1990; 59
FR 40730, Aug. 9, 1994; 60 FR 5131, Jan. 26, 1995; 60 FR 39254,
Aug. 2, 1995; 66 FR 5265, Jan. 18, 2001]
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