 For information on fall protection, see OHShub.com’s Post , Fall Protection Guidelines.
Five popular Scaffolding interpretations from OSHA (29CFR1926.450, Subpart L).
Question 1: When may the space between scaffold planks or between scaffold planks and uprights exceed one inch in width?
Answer: The relevant standard, 29 CFR §1926.451(b)(1)(i), states:
Each platform unit (e.g., scaffold plank, fabricated plank, fabricated deck, or fabricated platform) shall be installed so that the space between adjacent units and the space between the platform and the uprights is no more than 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide,except where the employer can demonstrate that a wider space is necessary (for example, to fit around uprights when side brackets are used to extend the width of the platform). (Emphasis added).
In addition, 29 CFR §1926.451(b)(1)(ii) states:
Where the employer makes the demonstration provided for in paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section, the platform shall be planked or decked as fully as possible and the remaining open space between the platform and the uprights shall not exceed 9 ½ inches (24.1 cm). (Emphasis added).
Question 2: Scenario: Employees are on a supported scaffold during erecting and dismantling. While on the scaffold they are using 100% fall protection by being tied off at all times. Under this scenario is there a requirement to have guardrails when on the scaffold’s wooden planks?
Answer: No. Section 1926.451(g)(2) states in part:
… the employer shall have a competent person determine the feasibility and safety of providing fall protection for employees erecting and dismantling supported scaffolds. Employers are required to provide fall protection for employees erecting or dismantling supported scaffolds where the installation and use of such protection is feasible and does not create a greater hazard.
In this scenario fall protection is already being used. There is no additional requirement to have guardrails.
Question 3: Do the OSHA standards prohibit tying off to a scaffold?
Answer: No.
It is OSHA’s position that scaffolding can function as a suitable anchorage for fall arrest systems when the scaffolding section so used is erected and braced such that the criteria of §1926.502(d)(15) are met. This applies whether the scaffold is partially built (i.e., being erected or disassembled) or completely built.
Continue reading OSHA Interpretations: 5 Responses to Scaffolding
OSHA invites interested parties to participate in a Web Chat on June 28, 2010 at 1 pm ET on the workplace hazards of combustible dust. OSHA plans to use the information gathered in response to this Web Chat in developing a proposed standard for combustible dust.
Participants are requested to provide their name, affiliation, [...]
OSHA recently released 25+ years worth of industrial hygiene sampling data as a part of the “Open Government” initiative.
OSHA takes industrial hygiene samples as part of its compliance monitoring program. Many of these samples are submitted to the Salt Lake Technical Center for analysis. Sampling data represent personal, area, and bulk samples for [...]
 A number of free OSHA applicable PowerPoint templates are available on OHShub.com. Below you will find some of the major OSHA topics that you can download and tailor to suit your needs.
Note: All presentations are in .ppt (PowerPoint) format. For a free Office PowerPoint viewer, click HERE.
Much in the same way that OSHA offers free onsite health and safety consulting services, NIOSH has a similar program for workplaces. A Health Hazard Evaluation (HHE), offered by NIOSH, is a study of hazardous materials or harmful conditions in the workplace. Taking the form of an interview, site visit and evaluation, or helpful [...]
Workers in the electric power industry are potentially exposed to a variety of serious hazards, such as arc flashes (which include arc flash burn and blast hazards), electric shock, falls, and thermal burn hazards that can cause injury and death. This eTool seeks to inform employers of their obligations to develop the appropriate hazard [...]
OSHA recently sent out 15,000 letters to workplaces with the highest DART (days away, restricted, transferred) rates. (For a DART calculator, see OHShub.com’s post HERE). For every 100 full-time workers, the 15,000 employers had 4.5 or more injuries or illnesses which resulted in days away from work, restricted work or job transfer. The [...]
 On Thursday, March 4, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) held a public meeting, “OSHA Listens,” to solicit comments and suggestions from OSHA stakeholders on key issues facing the agency, including:
- What can the agency do to enhance and encourage the efforts of employers, workers and unions to identify and address workplace hazards?
- What are the most important emerging or unaddressed health and safety issues in the workplace, and what can OSHA do to address these?
- How can the agency improve its efforts to engage stakeholders in programs and initiatives?
- What specific actions can the agency take to enhance the voice of workers in the workplace, particularly workers who are hard to reach, do not have ready access to information about hazards or their rights, or are afraid to exercise their rights?
- Are there additional measures to improve the effectiveness of the agency’s current compliance assistance efforts and the on site consultation program, to ensure that small businesses have the information needed to provide safe workplaces?
- Given the length and difficulty of the current OSHA rulemaking process, and given the need for new standards that will protect workers from unaddressed, inadequately addressed and emerging hazards, are there policies and procedures that will decrease the time to issue final standards so that OSHA may implement needed protections in a timely manner?
- As we continue to progress through a new information age vastly different from the environment in which OSHA was created, what new mechanisms or tools can the agency use to more effectively reach high risk employees and employers with training, education and outreach? What is OSHA doing now that may no longer be necessary?
- Are there indicators, other than worksite injuries and illness logs, that OSHA can use to enhance resource targeting?
- In the late 1980s, OSHA and its stakeholders worked together to update the Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs) (exposure limits for hazardous substances; most adopted in 1971), but the effort was unsuccessful. Should updating the PELs be a priority for the agency? Are there suggestions for ways to update the PELs, or other ways to control workplace chemical exposures?
Video replays of this event are available below: Continue reading Video Replay: OSHA Listens Public Meeting
 OSHA is proposing modifying the Hazard Communication Standard (HAZCOM) with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). Over 40 million workers in more than 5 million workplaces are expected to be impacted at a total cost of approximately $97 million per year to implement (costs to decrease to $42 million per year after initial period of familiarization).
HAZCOM currently:
- Requires chemical manufacturers and importers to label containers and prepare MSDS’s
- Requires employers to have a HAZCOM program for workers who have exposures or potential exposures
GHS will:
- Adopts a standardized method of hazard classification leading to an increase in quality and consistency of information provided to employees and employers
- Classifies chemicals by their health and physical hazards
- Specifies hazard communication specifics for labelling and MSDS’s
- Agreement at an international level
Major changes to HAZCOM:
- Specific criteria for classification of health and physical hazards of chemicals and mixtures
- Manufacturers and importers must use standardized labelling methods that include signal word, pictogram, and hazard statement
- MSDS’s will have a specific 16-section format
- Workers must be trained within 2 years of the final rule on the recognition and understanding of the GHS labelling and MSDS system
Benefits of GHS:
OSHA is proposing to revise its Recordkeeping regulation (29 CFR part 1904) to restore a column to the OSHA 300 Log that employers would use to record work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). The 2001 Recordkeeping final regulation included an MSD column, but the requirement was deleted before it became effective. The proposed rule would require [...]
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