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Rooftop fall protection for powered platform access

Summary An engineer asked about protection on roofs where workers access powered platforms. OSHA said it would accept a three-foot guardrail in the described locations and an adequately anchored permanent wire rope connected to a worker's lanyard as an equivalent method at exposed points. OSHA archives the letter.
Document
Federal opinion letter
Agency
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Document number
1981-07-01
Date issued
July 1, 1981
Status
Archived by the agency
OSHA labels this an archive document and warns that it may no longer represent OSHA policy.
Status last verified October 10, 2026
Topics
Workplace Safety OSHA 1910 Powered Platforms Fall Protection Guardrails
Source
View the official document

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OSHA labels this an archive document and warns that it may no longer represent OSHA policy. It may no longer reflect the agency's current position. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance, and verify current law before relying on anything here.
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.

NOTICE: This is an OSHA Archive Document, and may no longer represent OSHA Policy. It is presented here as historical content, for research and review purposes only.

July 1, 1981

Lawrence R. Stafford, P.E.
Consulting Engineer
[Recipient address omitted]

Dear Mr. Stafford:

This is in response to the questions raised in your letter of June 22, 1981, concerning proposed Powered Platform installations.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will accept a 3' guardrail for employee protection on roof locations where workers are exposed to falls in gaining access to equipment. Exposed employees are also required to be protected against the possibility of falling at each roof level in accordance with 29 CFR 1910.23(c). A permanently installed stainless steel wire rope, adequately anchored at the roof level to provide the equivalent guardrail protection when attached to the lanyard from a worker's safety belt is an acceptable method of providing employee protection at exposed locations.

If I may be of further assistance, please feel free to call or write.

Sincerely,

John K. Barto Chief,
Division of Occupational Safety Programming

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