ECI – Engineers Construction

Fall Protection is one of the OSHA Focus Four, which means it is one of the four most common causes of workplace fatalities.

Fall protection is required at a height above 6 feet and may consist of:

• Personal Fall Arrest System (Body harness and lanyard tied off to a safety line or anchor with a 5,000 lb capacity/man)
• Properly Designed Guard Rail System
• Maintaining a minimum 6-ft-horizontal distance from the vertical drop with proper warning devices or spotter
• Safety Net

The complete OSHA Fall Protection standard is available on line: http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/fallprotection/construction.html#construction

Railroad Bridges fall under the FRA standards which are different than the OSHA standard.  Two noteworthy differences are:

1. Fall Protection is required when working above 12 feet (versus 6 ft).  However, it should be used when it makes sense, even if not required by the standard.
2. Fall protection is not required if the worker stays inside of the rail gage and is not performing work (ie, limited to access movements across the bridge).
3. Inspection of a railroad bridge does not require fall protection provided that the inspector is properly trained and the employer has formal written safety program for bridge inspection (ECI does not qualify).

The FRA standards are summarized in the following link:  http://www.fra.dot.gov/downloads/safety/bws_compliance_manual_110806_final.pdf

If you are unfamiliar with fall protection requirements, please contact the safety department.