Masonry Magazine December 1996 Page. 14
by: Robert Lee
OSHA
Issues
New
Standards
for
Scaffolding
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on August 29, issued a revised standard for the use of scaffolding. According to OSHA, the new standard was designed to prevent roughly 4,500 injuries and 50 fatalities each year.
According to Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Joseph Dear, "The lives that will be saved and the injuries prevented by the requirements in this new standard are in addition to those deaths and injuries already prevented through compliance with the old scaffold standard. Employers' savings will far out weigh the costs of compliance, which are estimated at $12.6 million per year."
The seed for a new scaffold standard was planted by OSHA nearly twenty years ago and after nineteen years and over 700 industry comments and several hearings the new standard was released. Although not a perfect document, it is certainly much better than what would have occurred without the industry's input. While it would be impossible to mention every change in Subpart L, there are several that will impact all mason contractors and our employees.
1. Trigger height for fall protection on scaffolds. OSHA decided to retain the 10-foot trigger height for fall protection scaffolds and not the 6-foot height they originally sought.
2. Guardrail height. The final rule sets the minimum top rail height at 38 inches for scaffolds where the guardrail is the primary means of fall protection. It permits a top rail height of 36 inches for scaffolds where personal fall arrest systems are the principal means of fall protection and guardrail systems serve primarily to mark the perimeters.
3. Fall protection and safe access for erectors and dismantlers on built-up scaffolds. The revised standard requires a competent person to determine the feasibility and safety of providing fall protection and safe access for scaffold erectors and dismantlers, based on job site conditions, but does not require the determination to be in writing. The effective date of these provisions is being delayed for one year during which time OSHA will work with stakeholders to develop a non- manda- tory appendix that will contain criteria to help employers determine the feasibility and safety of providing fall protection or safe access at particular workplaces.
4. Crossbracing. The final rule permits the use of crossbracing in lieu of either a mid rail or a top rail, where specified criteria are followed, but not in lieu of an entire guardrail system. Such use of crossbracing is allowed only on the intermediate levels of scaffolds, not the final top level.
The most questionable aspect of the new standard pertains to employee training and a competent person to inspect scaffolding. It is now required that each employee working on a scaffold must be trained on the relevant requirements of Subpart L, associated with the type of work performed. Specifically, training in other hazards, methods of protection and the maximum intended load and the load carrying capacities of the scaffold must be included. Training is particularly important for employees engaged in erection and dismantling operations. There is no requirement for certification or other documentation of training required. Employees who have been trained but do not understand or who are not adhering to the requirements will cause a contractor to be in violation.