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Fall protection at open second floors in housing construction

Summary An OSHA regional office asked how to enforce fall protection at a fully decked, open-sided second floor during housing construction. OSHA said contractors usually erect the exterior partition first, but exposing workers doing other tasks at the open edge would violate the cited provision. OSHA marks the page corrected in 2004.
Document
Federal guidance
Agency
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Document number
1987-06-16
Date issued
June 16, 1987
Status
Active
OSHA marks the published memorandum corrected on May 28, 2004.
Status last verified October 10, 2026
Topics
Workplace Safety OSHA 1926 Fall Protection Residential Construction
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.

June 16, 1987

MEMORANDUM FOR: LINDA R. ANKU
Regional Administrator

FROM: LEO CAREY, Director
Directorate of Field Operations

SUBJECT: Enforcement of [29 CFR 1926.501(b)(13)] for Housing Construction Operations

We concur that it is not common practice in the housing industry to erect guardrails on a fully decked open-sided second floor that is more than six feet above the adjacent ground. Normally the contractor will erect the exterior partition before allowing the employees to perform any other work which will expose the employees to a fall hazard. However, employers allowing employees to perform work other than erection of the partition at the open-sided second floor thereby exposing employees to a fall hazard would be violation of [29 CFR 1926.501(b)(13)].
[Corrected 05/28/2004]

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