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Safety latches on hoist hooks

Summary An insurer asked when lifting hooks needed throat latches. OSHA cited the mobile-crane provision calling for safety-latch hooks wherever possible. It said a hazardous unlatchable hoisting operation could also support a general-duty citation based on the rule or established industry practice.
Document
Federal opinion letter
Agency
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Document number
1976-03-08
Date issued
March 8, 1976
Status
Active
Status last verified October 10, 2026
Topics
Workplace Safety OSHA 1910 Hoists Material Handling
Source
View the official document

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About this page: The full text below is the official document from Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Ezel adds the plain-English summary and tracks the document's status. The official source linked on this page is authoritative for any reliance.

March 8, 1976

Mr. Ken Jensen
Fireman's Fund
American Insurance Companies
New York Branch Office
[Recipient address omitted]
Dear Mr. Jensen:

This is in response to your letter requesting clarification of the OSHA requirement for safety latches on lifting hooks.

The requirement for safety latches (AKA throat latches) is only specified in OSHA 1910.181(j)(2)(ii), which states that "Safety latch type hooks shall be used wherever possible."

OSHA compliance officers may use the OSHA general duty clause identified as paragraph 5(a)(1) of the Williams-Steiger Act whenever a hazard is created by a hoisting operation where the hoist hook is not provided with a throat latch. The compliance officer may then support the 5(a)(1) citation by calling attention to 1910.181.(j)(2)(ii).

A second alternative would be to cite the general duty clause 5(a)(1) and support it with the industry practice where the use of safety or throat latches is fairly common.

Please feel free to contact us if there are further questions about OSHA.

Sincerely,

Alfred Barden
Regional Administrator
Occupational Safety and Health

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