What?

OSHA issued a final rule on Walking-Working Surfaces and Personal Fall Protection Systems to better protect workers in general industry from these hazards by updating and clarifying standards and adding training and inspection requirements. The rule applies to all general industry workplaces and covers all walking-working surfaces, which include horizontal and vertical surfaces such as floors, stairs, roofs, ladders, ramps, scaffolds, elevated walkways, and use of fall protection systems.

Benefits to Employers

The rule benefits employers by providing greater flexibility in choosing a fall protection system. For example, it eliminates the existing mandate to use guardrails as a primary fall protection method and allows employers to choose from accepted fall protection systems they believe will work best in a particular situation - an approach that has been successful in the construction industry since 1994. In addition, employers will be able to use non-conventional fall protection in certain situations, such as designated areas on low-slope roofs.

As much as possible, OSHA aligned fall protection requirements for general industry with those for construction, easing compliance for employers who perform both types of activities. For example, the final rule replaces the outdated general industry scaffold standards with a requirement that employers comply with OSHA's construction scaffold standards.

Who?

The rule applies to all general industry workplaces and covers all walking-working surfaces, which include horizontal and vertical surfaces such as floors, stairs, roofs, ladders, ramps, scaffolds, elevated walkways, and use of fall protection systems.

The final rule covers a wide variety of general industry firms including building management services, utilities, warehousing, retail, window cleaning, chimney sweeping, and outdoor advertising.

It does not change construction or agricultural standards.

Why?

Falls from heights and on the same level (a working surface) are among the leading causes of serious work-related injuries and deaths. OSHA has issued a final rule on Walking-Working Surfaces and Personal Fall Protection Systems to better protect workers in general industry from these hazards by updating and clarifying standards and adding training and inspection requirements.

The Fall Protection category appeared in 4 of the top 10 OSHA violation in fiscal year 2018. This is the first time Fall Protection-Training Requirements appeared in the top 10.

Category	Number of Violations
#1: Fall Protection – General Requirements: 1926.501	7,720
#3: Scaffolds – General Requirements: 1926.451	3,336
#6: Ladders: 1926.1053	2,812
#8: Fall Protection – Training Requirements 1926.503	1,982

The new walking-working surfaces rule incorporates advances in technology, industry best practices, and national consensus standards to provide effective and cost-efficient worker protection. Specifically, it updates general industry standards addressing slip, trip, and fall hazards (subpart D), and adds requirements for personal fall protection systems (subpart I).

OSHA estimates that these changes will prevent 29 fatalities and 5,842 lost-workday injuries every year.

How?

By restructuring 1910 Subpart D

Final 1910 Subpart D	Old 1910 Subpart D
1910.21: Scope and definitions 1910.22: General requirements 1910.23: Ladders 1910.24: Step bolts and manhole steps 1910.25: Stairways 1910.26: Dockboards 1910.27: Scaffold and rope descent systems 1910.28: Duty to have fall protection and falling object protection 1910.29: Fall protection systems and falling object protection – criteria and practices 1910.30: Training Requirements 1910.140: Personal fall protection systems	1910.21: Definitions 1910.22: General requirements 1910.23: Guarding floor and wall openings and holes 1910.24: Fixed industrial stairs 1910.25: Portable wood ladders 1910.26: Portable metal ladders 1910.27: Fixed ladders 1910.28: Safety requirements for scaffolding 1910.29: Manually propelled mobile ladder stands and scaffolds (towers) 1910.30: Other working surfaces
Amendments to Additional Subparts to Reflect Changes made in Subpart D
Subpart F 1910.66 — Powered Platforms for Building Maintenance Mandatory Appendix D of 1910.66 — Existing Installations 1910.67 — Vehicle-Mounted Elevating and Rotating Work Platforms 1910.68 — Manlifts Subpart I 1910.132 — Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) General Requirements 1910.140 (New) — Personal Fall Protection Systems — See details below Subpart N 1910.178 — Powered Industrial Trucks 1910.179 — Overhead and Gantry Cranes Subpart R 1910.261 — Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Mills 1910.262 — Textiles 1910.265 — Sawmills 1910.268 — Telecommunications 1910.269 — Electric Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution

When?

Here are the deadlines:

Most of the rule became effective January 17, 2017, 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, but some provisions have delayed effective dates. Note: all but the last deadline have passed. 

• Ensuring exposed workers are trained on fall hazards (May 17, 2017)
• Ensuring workers who use equipment covered by the final rule are trained (May 17, 2017)
• Inspecting and certifying permanent anchorages for rope descent systems (November 20, 2017)
• Installing personal fall arrest or ladder safety systems on new fixed ladders over 24 feet and on replacement ladders/ladder sections, including fixed ladders on outdoor advertising structures (November 19, 2018)
• Ensuring existing fixed ladders over 24 feet, including those on outdoor advertising structures, are equipped with a cage, well, personal fall arrest system, or ladder safety system (November 19, 2018)
• Replacing cages and wells (used as fall protection) with ladder safety or personal fall arrest systems on all fixed ladders over 24 feet (November 18, 2036)

Download this reference to choosing the right lanyard length for an application.