Regulation 29 CFR 1926.501

Key provisions:

• Employers must set up the workplace to prevent employees from falling off of overhead platforms, elevated work stations or into holes in the floor and walls. 
• OSHA requires that fall protection be provided at elevations of four feet in general industry workplaces, five feet in shipyards, six feet in the construction industry and eight feet in longshoring operations. 
• In addition, OSHA requires that fall protection be provided when working over dangerous equipment and machinery, regardless of the fall distance.

To prevent employees from being injured from falls, employers must:

• Guard every floor hole into which a worker can accidentally walk (using a railing and toe-board or a floor hole cover).
• Provide a guard rail and toe-board around every elevated open sided platform, floor or runway.
• Regardless of height, if a worker can fall into or onto dangerous machines or equipment (such as a vat of acid or a conveyor belt) employers must provide guardrails and toe-boards to prevent workers from falling and getting injured.
• Other means of fall protection that may be required on certain jobs include safety harness and line, safety nets, stair railings and hand rails.

OSHA requires employers to:

• Provide working conditions that are free of known dangers.
• Keep floors in work areas in a clean and, so far as possible, a dry condition.
• Select and provide required personal protective equipment at no cost to workers.
• Train workers about job hazards in a language that they can understand.

1926.501(b)(13): Residential construction

Each employee engaged in residential construction activities 6 feet (1.8 m) or more above lower levels shall be protected by guardrail systems, safety net system, or personal fall arrest system unless another provision in paragraph (b) of this section provides for an alternative fall protection measure. Exception: When the employer can demonstrate that it is infeasible or creates a greater hazard to use these systems, the employer shall develop and implement a fall protection plan which meets the requirements of paragraph (k) of 1926.502.

1926.501(b)(14): Wall openings

Each employee working on, at, above, or near wall openings (including those with chutes attached) where the outside bottom edge of the wall opening is 6 feet (1.8 m) or more above lower levels and the inside bottom edge of the wall opening is less than 39 inches (1.0 m) above the walking/working surface, shall be protected from falling by the use of a guardrail system, a safety net system, or a personal fall arrest system.

1926.501(b)(15): Walking/working surfaces not otherwise addressed

Except as provided in 1926.500(a)(2) or in 1926.501 (b)(1) through (b)(14), each employee on a walking/working surface 6 feet (1.8 m) or more above lower levels shall be protected from falling by a guardrail system, safety net system, or personal fall arrest system.

1926.501(c): Protection from falling objects

When an employee is exposed to falling objects, the employer shall have each employee wear a hard hat and shall implement one of the following measures:

• erect toeboards, screens, or guardrail systems to prevent objects from falling; 
• erect a canopy structure and keep potential fall objects far enough from the edge of the higher level so they won’t go over the edge if accidentally displaced; 
• or barricade the area to which objects could fall, prohibit employees from entering the barricaded area, and keep objects that may fall far enough away from the edge of the higher level.