Scissor Lifts and Fall Protection

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joebell

joebell

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New Hampshire
We are working on a job that has an in house EHS person. The company is requesting we wear PFAS gear. I personally do not have an issue with it but we are being told it is an osha rule for working heights above 30'. I have never heard an OSHA hieght requirement stated before so I tried looking up in 29CFR1926 but could not find it. Has anyone ever heard this same requirement and does an OSHA requirement exist?
 
OSHA considers scissor lifts to be moble scaffolding, they are equipped with the required rails for fall protection and as such do not require a harness to be worn regardless of height.

Of course a customer can require additional fall protection.


In regards to your specific question, when working from an elevated scissors lift (ANSI A92.6 series), a worker need only be protected from falling by a properly designed and maintained guardrail system. However, if the guardrail system is less than adequate, or the worker leaves the safety of the work platform, an additional fall protection device would be required. The general scaffolding fall protection provision found in 1926.451(g)(1)(vii) reads in part, "[f]or all scaffolds not otherwise specified in this section, each employee shall be protected by the use of personal fall arrest systems or guardrails systems."
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https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=interpretations&p_id=22611
 
Thanks Bob,

I realize the customer can enforce thier own safety requirements but they specifically cited that this was an OSHA requirment, which of course peaked my curiosity. I'm personally not a fan of people citing thier percieved interpretation of a document without an intimate knowledge of the material. If they merely stated that this was thier requirement then I would not have thought twice about it.
 
The majority of places I've worked over the past couple decades (mostly industrial) required the use of a PFAS anytime while working on or moving any lift... period. Didn't matter even if the work platform wasn't raised.
 
Smart $ said:
The majority of places I've worked over the past couple decades (mostly industrial) required the use of a PFAS anytime while working on or moving any lift... period. Didn't matter even if the work platform wasn't raised.
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Not surprised but I think it is lazy safety policy on the part of those requiring it.

In the next couple of months I will be doing a lot of site lighting work in seven locations. I will order a scissor lift for any of the sites that I can use one just so I don't have to wear a harness as I will have to in the sites that I have to use a boom lift.

I hate wearing the leash, but will when I have to.
 
Smart $ said:
The majority of places I've worked over the past couple decades (mostly industrial) required the use of a PFAS anytime while working on or moving any lift... period. Didn't matter even if the work platform wasn't raised.
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I have dealt with that issue in the past as well, each time being informed that it was the customers safety policy stating the use of PFAS. In this instance however we were told that work performed above 30' required PFAS by OSHA, yet I find nothing from OSHA requiring this.
 
joebell said:
I have dealt with that issue in the past as well, each time being informed that it was the customers safety policy stating the use of PFAS. In this instance however we were told that work performed above 30' required PFAS by OSHA, yet I find nothing from OSHA requiring this.
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I did read somewhere about a safety net cannot be more than 30' below work level. Wouldn't surprise me if this requirement was construed by the safety personnel to mean something else.
 
I work at a Steel plant and we are not allowed to even get into a man lift or scissor lift without PFAS with an adjustable lanyard to the engineered connection point, if we are moving it then the adjustable lanyard has to be shortened to the point you cannot be bounced more then a couple inches off the floor when traveling, we were shown a video of a person who went over some RR tracks and was bounced out of the lift because he had the lanyard too long, but I think it was more of our company policy than OSHA.
 
Smart $ said:
The majority of places I've worked over the past couple decades (mostly industrial) required the use of a PFAS anytime while working on or moving any lift... period. Didn't matter even if the work platform wasn't raised.
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Did those lifts have an engineered and marked anchor point for fall protection? Fall protection anchor points must be rated for 5,000#. Tying off your lanyard to the handrail doesn't cut it, though I've seen it done more than once. If there isn't an anchor point on the lift, there's no point to wearing a harness. Logic and Health & Safety don't always go together however.



SceneryDriver
 
SceneryDriver said:
Did those lifts have an engineered and marked anchor point for fall protection? Fall protection anchor points must be rated for 5,000#. Tying off your lanyard to the handrail doesn't cut it, though I've seen it done more than once. If there isn't an anchor point on the lift, there's no point to wearing a harness. Logic and Health & Safety don't always go together however.
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Most scissor lifts will have factory provided attachment points but I do not believe the 5000 Lb requirement applies to engineered points.

For instance I was using an identical truck to this a few weeks ago


3_1335894918.jpg


Of course I wore a harness and attached it to the point provided but I doubt a 300 pound capacity boom can support a 5000 pound load.
 
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iwire said:
Most scissor lifts will have factory provided attachment points but I do not believe the 5000 Lb requirement applies to engineered points.

...

Of course I wore a harness and attached it to the point provided but I doubt a 300 pound capacity boom can support a 5000 pound load.
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I've not seen a scissors lift without an engineered anchor point that I recall... though many older models did not mark or label them.

The 5000lb minimum attachment rating is the impact withstand rating. The attachment point must survive 5000lb of impact without failing. Not the same as load capacity.
 
Smart $ said:
The 5000lb minimum attachment rating is the impact withstand rating. The attachment point must survive 5000lb of impact without failing. Not the same as load capacity.
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1926.502(d)(15)

Anchorages used for attachment of personal fall arrest equipment shall be independent of any anchorage being used to support or suspend platforms and capable of supporting at least 5,000 pounds (22.2 kN) per employee attached, or shall be designed, installed, and used as follows:
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If it was impact they would have to provide the specifics of speed etc. I believe that is were the engineering route comes in.

The anchorage point has to support 5,000 pounds OR it can be engineered to perform the task without having to literally support 5,000 pounds.
 
iwire said:
1926.502(d)(15)

Anchorages used for attachment of personal fall arrest equipment shall be independent of any anchorage being used to support or suspend platforms and capable of supporting at least 5,000 pounds (22.2 kN) per employee attached, or shall be designed, installed, and used as follows:
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If it was impact they would have to provide the specifics of speed etc. I believe that is were the engineering route comes in.

The anchorage point has to support 5,000 pounds OR it can be engineered to perform the task without having to literally support 5,000 pounds.
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The anchorage point itself. Same as the required tensile strength of D-rings and snap hooks. See it as you may. OSHA reg's do not define it any way other than what you posted.

https://www.osha.gov/doc/outreachtraining/htmlfiles/subpartm.html

But if you want to get technical, the part I highlighted in blue would exclude the use of any attachment point on the lift, whether engineered or not.
 
Smart $ said:
The anchorage point itself. Same as the required tensile strength of D-rings and snap hooks. See it as you may. OSHA reg's do not define it any way other than what you posted.

https://www.osha.gov/doc/outreachtraining/htmlfiles/subpartm.html

But if you want to get technical, the part I highlighted in blue would exclude the use of any attachment point on the lift, whether engineered or not.
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Man ...

I said the anchorage point has to support 5,000 Lbs.

You said no, that is impact load.

I pointed out that the section clearly said support 5,000 lbs


I would have expected you to agree but no, now you want to split hairs about a different subject. So knock yourself out, I am done with it.
 
Someone should do a study to see how many knee injuries happen each year from slips or stumbles on concrete or wood floors. We probably need to wear harnesses and tie off to an over head trolley when we walk a building. No telling how many knee injuries this would prevent. Imagine the savings in the cost of band aids & neosporin. :D:D
 
Wearing harnesses in a scissor lift often gives the user of a false sense of safety. Majority of all scissor lifts are rated for fall restraint and NOT PFAS, fall arrest. I often discover mechanics using such a long lanyard that would permit then to fall out and possibly pull the lift over as well.

Harness are required in vehicle boom lifts regardless of bucket wall height.

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