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OSHA agrees to SMACNA recommendations on flat roofs requirements

SMACNA contractors performing service work on flat roofs (low-sloped roofs) received a significant win after OSHA “agreed to” comments submitted by SMACNA and other industry stakeholders.

SMACNA contractors performing service work on flat roofs (low-sloped roofs) received a significant win after OSHA “agreed to” comments submitted by SMACNA and other industry stakeholders.

The proposed rule had required placement of a warning line system to establish designated areas or conventional fall protection regardless of distance to the edge.

Part of the new OSHA rule “Walking and Working Surfaces in General Industry, the revised regulation provides for no fall protection requirements on flat roofs if the work is “temporary and infrequent,” if conducted further than 15 feet of the roof’s edge, and the use of a “designated area” in other situations.

Final Rule to Update General Industry Walking-Working Surfaces and Fall Protection Standards

For more information contact Mike McCullion, director of market sectors and safety (mmccullion@smacna.org / (703) 995-4027).

Content reviewed 2/2021