OSHA Corrects Protective Equipment Rule

TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020

Last month, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration published a final rule in the Federal Register, issuing various corrections to its Walking-Working Surfaces, Personal Protective Equipment and Special Industries standards.

The corrections involved the removal of “typographical, formatting and clerical errors” and went into effect on Dec. 17.

The Corrections

According to reports, one of the rules OSHA updated was its Personal Fall Protection Systems Standard (1910.140). In correcting the rule, OSHA no longer requires the gate strength of snaphooks and carabiners to be proof tested to 3,600 pounds in all directions.

Ed Brown, public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Last month, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration published a final rule in the Federal Register, issuing various corrections to its Walking-Working Surfaces, Personal Protective Equipment and Special Industries standards.

Ed Brown, public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Last month, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration published a final rule in the Federal Register, issuing various corrections to its Walking-Working Surfaces, Personal Protective Equipment and Special Industries standards. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT

Moving forward, the gate of carabiners and snaphooks are “capable of withstanding a minimum load of 3,600 pounds without the gate separating from the nose of the snaphook or carabiner body by more than 0.125 inches.”

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Due to the possibility of damaging the equipment during proof testing, OSHA has decided to also stay consistent with the ANSI/ASSE Z359.12-2009 standard.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Other corrected standards include:

• Ladders, 1910.23(d)(4): The agency has added the words “at least” before “42 inches.”
• Stairways, 1910.25(a): OSHA added a title to Figure D-8 in 1910.25(c) and adds articulated stairs are not covered by this standard.
• Scaffolds and Rope Descent Systems, 1910.27(b)(1)(i): OSHA corrected the metric equivalent of 5,000 pounds to 2,268 kilograms.
• Fall Protection Systems and Falling Object Protection – Criteria and Practices, 1910.29: OSHA corrected Figure D-11 to include “top rail” and “end post” labels.
• Electric Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution, 1910.269(h)(2): The agency changed the incorrect references to ladder standards to 1910.23(c)(4) and (c)(9).