Focus Four Hazards: Falls
Where fall protection is required
Falls are the leading cause of death in construction. The trigger height for most construction walking/working surfaces under 1926.501(b)(1) is 6 feet. Different triggers apply elsewhere: 10 feet for scaffolds (1926.451(g)(1)) and 15 feet for steel erection (1926.760). Holes more than 6 feet above a lower level must be covered with a secured, marked cover or guarded with railings.
Systems and numbers
Guardrail systems: top rail at 42 inches plus or minus 3, midrail at 21 inches, toe board 3.5 inches, and the top rail must withstand 200 pounds. Personal fall arrest requires a full-body harness, an anchorage of 5,000 pounds per employee (or designed with a safety factor of two), a maximum free fall of 6 feet, a deceleration distance of 3.5 feet, self-locking snap hooks, and prompt rescue. Positioning device systems limit free fall to 2 feet. Warning lines on low-slope roofs sit 15 feet back from the edge and apply only in the narrow situations the standard permits; they never replace guardrails where guardrails are required.
Traps
Body belts are not acceptable fall arrest. A lanyard without a deceleration device is not a personal fall arrest system. A competent person must supervise, and training must cover the specific system in use. Watch for a worker on a scaffold at 8 feet with a question asking whether fall protection is required - it is not, until 10 feet.
Rule of thumb: six for the deck, ten for the scaffold, fifteen for steel.