1910.269(g)(2)(iv): OSHA rule

(iv) The following requirements apply to the care and use of personal fall protection equipment.

(A) Work-positioning equipment shall be inspected before use each day to determine that the equipment is in safe working condition. Work-positioning equipment that is not in safe working condition may not be used.

Appendix F to this section contains guidelines for inspecting work-positioning equipment.

(B) Personal fall arrest systems shall be used in accordance with subpart I of this part.

Fall protection equipment rigged to arrest falls is considered a fall arrest system and must meet the applicable requirements for the design and use of those systems. Fall protection equipment rigged for work positioning is considered work-positioning equipment and must meet the applicable requirements for the design and use of that equipment.

(C) The employer shall ensure that employees use fall protection systems as follows: Open (g)(2)(iv)(c)

(1) Each employee working from an aerial lift shall use a travel restraint system or a personal fall arrest system.

(2) Except as provided in paragraph (g)(2)(iv)(C)(3) of this section, each employee in elevated locations more than 1.2 meters (4 feet) above the ground on poles, towers, or similar structures shall use a personal fall arrest system, work-positioning equipment, or fall restraint system, as appropriate, if the employer has not provided other fall protection meeting Subpart D of this part.

(3) Until March 31, 2015, a qualified employee climbing or changing location on poles, towers, or similar structures need not use fall protection equipment, unless conditions, such as, but not limited to, ice, high winds, the design of the structure (for example, no provision for holding on with hands), or the presence of contaminants on the structure, could cause the employee to lose his or her grip or footing. On and after April 1, 2015, each qualified employee climbing or changing location on poles, towers, or similar structures must use fall protection equipment unless the employer can demonstrate that climbing or changing location with fall protection is infeasible or creates a greater hazard than climbing or changing location without it.

These paragraphs apply to structures that support overhead electric power transmission and distribution lines and equipment. They do not apply to portions of buildings, such as loading docks, or to electric equipment, such as transformers and capacitors. Subpart D of this part contains the duty to provide fall protection associated with walking and working surfaces.

Until the employer ensures that employees are proficient in climbing and the use of fall protection under paragraph (a)(2)(viii) of this section, the employees are not considered “qualified employees” for the purposes of paragraphs (g)(2)(iv)(C)(2) and (g)(2)(iv)(C)(3) of this section. These paragraphs require unqualified employees (including trainees) to use fall protection any time they are more than 1.2 meters (4 feet) above the ground.

(D) On and after April 1, 2015, work-positioning systems shall be rigged so that an employee can free fall no more than 0.6 meters (2 feet).

(E) Anchorages for work-positioning equipment shall be capable of supporting at least twice the potential impact load of an employee's fall, or 13.3 kilonewtons (3,000 pounds-force), whichever is greater.

Wood-pole fall-restriction devices meeting American Society of Testing and Materials Standard Specifications for Personal Climbing Equipment, ASTM F887-12^e1, are deemed to meet the anchorage-strength requirement when they are used in accordance with manufacturers' instructions.

(F) Unless the snaphook is a locking type and designed specifically for the following connections, snaphooks on work-positioning equipment may not be engaged:

(1) Directly to webbing, rope, or wire rope;

(2) To each other;

(3) To a D ring to which another snaphook or other connector is attached;

(4) To a horizontal lifeline; or

(5) To any object that is incompatibly shaped or dimensioned in relation to the snaphook such that accidental disengagement could occur should the connected object sufficiently depress the snaphook keeper to allow release of the object.