It is well-known among roofing professionals that the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) most
commonly issued citation against employers in the roofing industry
is for fall-protection infractions. However, infractions involving
scaffolds and ladders also are among OSHA's most commonly issued
citations and have unique sets of requirements.
Unlike fall-protection requirements under Subpart M of OSHA's
construction regulations, fall-protection issues related to
scaffold use are controlled by Subpart L. This causes a fair amount
of confusion among roofing professionals.
Subpart L addresses fabricated (tubular) frame scaffolds common
at many construction sites, as well as chicken ladders (which OSHA
refers to as crawling boards), ladder jacks and pump jack
scaffolds. But subpart L's most divergent and critical requirement
is related to worker fall...
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