OSHA Annual Inspection - Don't Forget to Inspect *AND* Keep Records!

Don't forget your OSHA Annual Inspections of your roof anchors and engineered fall protection systems and window cleaning equipment - a competent person (qualified person) shall inspect roof anchors, davits, horizontal lifelines and other permanently installed fall protection and prevention and window cleaning equipment on buildings each and every year.

See our post about the OSHA requirements per the ANSI/IWCA I-14.1 from August 2008. See also the OSHA code 1910.66 at http://www.osha.gov/, regarding inspecting. And,

Fallacy of Fall Protection From Manually Rigged Horizontal Lines

Over the past several years, we have seen many a "jury rigged" fall protection "system" on the roof tops of buildings. By this we mean a chaotic assembly of hand-tied ropes and / or cables, attached to roof vents, plumbing, HVAC equipment stands, conduits or other 'structures', thus spreading the 'load' of the suspended worker(s) and their powered platforms or boatswain chairs, or the load of a worker falling from an unprotected roof edge or walking / working surface.

FIGURE:1
Effect of a rigged horizontal line being used to suspend a 1,250 lb. working load, when the sag is only 1.2" and the line is 20' in length; the load in the line is 41,663 lbs. !!! Sag must be sufficiently increased so the load in the line is less than 5,000 lbs.


Problem #1
Ropes are

Certain OSHA Regulations Regarding Working at Heights

People are often confused by what regulations are actually in OSHA codes vs. which are incorporated by reference in consensus standards such as the ANSI/IWCA I-14.1. Below are a few OSHA codes that are mandatory ...

ANSI / IWCA 1-14.1 Important Lifesaving Standard Guidelines

CERTAIN OSHA CONCENSUS STANDARD CODES FROM IWCA/ANSI I-14.1-2001
Below are excerpts from the I-14.1 explaining certain codes that must be followed in the window cleaning industry, which includes the workers, the window cleaning companies, the building management companies that hire them, and the building owners ...

Boatswain Chair Usage With Safety Tieback Anchors; Angles for Lifelines

Standard Interpretations 04/19/2006 - Safe tieback angles for controlled boatswain's chairs. Click title for more ...

OSHA Interpretation of Single Point Anchor for Simultaneous Usage

Standard Interpretations 03/08/2002 - Acceptable use of single point anchor systems for window cleaning operations. Click title for more ...