Working On Roof Safety Requirements

Make it clear in writing who is allowed on the roof and under what circumstances.

Working on roof safety requirements.

Place warning lines and headers around the entire roof perimeter. Therefore if you are working on a roof and have a warning line set up more than 15 feet away from the edge then osha would issue you a de minimus violation in other words you may receive the violation for notification purposes but there would be no fine attached. Osha requires fall protection for workers on surfaces over six feet off the ground that do not have protection along the surface edges. Osha safety standards especially for roof fall protection can be a source of confusion for many industrial companies.

You need support from management to create a safety culture and have the backing to enforce it. A good place to start is your company leadership. Working six feet or more above lower levels put roofers at risk for serious injury or death if they should fall. Install warning lines no closer than 5 feet inside the roof edges and at a height of 34 to 45 inches.

Lay headers sheets of roofing or other materials no closer than 5 feet inside the edges of the roof and parallel to. Two osha standards can apply 29 cfr 1910 which governs general industry safety standards and 29 cfr 1926 which governs construction sites specifically the osha general industry standards exclude construction as well as agriculture and marine industries which. Roof lights are a particular hazard as they can be obscured by light conditions be recessed or concealed by paint. Since roofs rarely have any sort of built in protective rails employers must provide fall protection for roof workers.

Beyond physical protection measures it s necessary to have robust policies in place for roof safety. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph b of this section each employee engaged in roofing activities on low slope roofs with unprotected sides and edges 6 feet 1 8 m or more above lower levels shall be protected from falling by guardrail systems safety net systems personal fall arrest systems or a combination of warning line system and guardrail system warning line system and safety net system or warning line system and personal fall arrest system or warning line system and. Work on or near fragile roof surfaces requires a combination of stagings guard rails fall restraint fall arrest and safety nets slung beneath and close to the roof. Carrying out roof work earlier in the morning or later in the day.

Fall protection requirements falls are the leading cause of work related injuries and deaths among roofers.