Walking-Working Surfaces in General Industry

People slip, trip, and fall where they walk and work. OSHA's Subpart D requires you to keep surfaces clean and safe, inspect and repair them, protect employees at edges and holes, and train employees on fall hazards.

Who it applies to

Subpart D applies to all general industry workplaces and covers all walking-working surfaces unless an individual section specifically excludes them (1910.21(a)). A walking-working surface is any horizontal or vertical surface on or through which an employee walks, works, or gains access to a work area or workplace location (1910.21(b)).

Section 1910.28, which requires protection from fall and falling object hazards (1910.28(a)(1)), does not apply to portable ladders, to fall hazards presented by the exposed perimeters of entertainment stages and rail-station platforms, to powered platforms covered by 1910.66(j), to aerial lifts covered by 1910.67(c)(2)(v), to telecommunications work covered by 1910.268(n)(7) and (8), or to electric power generation, transmission, and distribution work covered by 1910.269(g)(2)(i). It also does not apply when employers are inspecting, investigating, or assessing workplace conditions or work to be performed before work starts or after all work has been completed. That exemption does not apply when fall protection systems or equipment meeting 1910.29 have been installed and are available for workers to use for those pre-work and post-work inspections, investigations, or assessments (1910.28(a)(2)).

What the standard requires

Keep surfaces clean and free of hazards

You must ensure that:

• All places of employment, passageways, storerooms, service rooms, and walking-working surfaces are kept clean, orderly, and sanitary (1910.22(a)(1)).
• The floor of each workroom is kept clean and, to the extent feasible, dry. When wet processes are used, drainage must be maintained and, to the extent feasible, dry standing places such as false floors, platforms, and mats must be provided (1910.22(a)(2)).
• Walking-working surfaces are kept free of hazards such as sharp or protruding objects, loose boards, corrosion, leaks, spills, snow, and ice (1910.22(a)(3)).

Loads, access, and egress

You must ensure that each walking-working surface can support the maximum intended load for that surface (1910.22(b)). You must provide a safe means of access and egress to and from walking-working surfaces, and ensure each employee uses it (1910.22(c)).

Inspect, maintain, and repair

You must ensure that:

• Walking-working surfaces are inspected "regularly and as necessary" and maintained in a safe condition (1910.22(d)(1)).
• Hazardous conditions are corrected or repaired before an employee uses the surface again. If that cannot be done immediately, the hazard must be guarded to keep employees off the surface until it is fixed (1910.22(d)(2)).
• A qualified person performs or supervises any correction or repair that involves the structural integrity of the surface (1910.22(d)(3)).

Unprotected sides and edges

Except as provided elsewhere in 1910.28, you must ensure that each employee on a walking-working surface with an unprotected side or edge that is 4 feet (1.2 m) or more above a lower level is protected from falling by one or more of: guardrail systems, safety net systems, or personal fall protection systems, such as personal fall arrest, travel restraint, or positioning systems (1910.28(b)(1)(i)).

Exceptions:

• Residential roofs. When you can demonstrate that those systems are not feasible or create a greater hazard, you must develop and implement a fall protection plan that meets 29 CFR 1926.502(k) and training that meets 1926.503(a) and (c) (1910.28(b)(1)(ii)).
• Loading racks, loading docks, and teeming platforms. When you can demonstrate that fall protection systems are not feasible on the working side of the platform, the work may be done without one, provided the work operation for which fall protection is infeasible is in process, access is limited to authorized employees, and those employees are trained under 1910.30 (1910.28(b)(1)(iii)).

Holes

A hole is a gap or open space in a floor, roof, horizontal walking-working surface, or similar surface that is at least 2 inches (5 cm) in its least dimension (1910.21(b)).

You must ensure each employee is protected from falling through any hole, including skylights, that is 4 feet or more above a lower level by one or more of: covers, guardrail systems, travel restraint systems, or personal fall arrest systems (1910.28(b)(3)(i)).

Other situations

Other paragraphs of 1910.28(b) address specific situations. For fixed ladders that extend more than 24 feet (7.3 m) above a lower level, you must ensure each one installed before November 19, 2018 has a personal fall arrest system, ladder safety system, cage, or well, and each one installed on and after that date has a personal fall arrest system or a ladder safety system. When a fixed ladder, cage, or well, or any portion of a section, is replaced, a personal fall arrest system or ladder safety system must be installed in at least the section where the replacement is located. On and after November 18, 2036, all must have one of those two systems (1910.28(b)(9)(i)).

Training

Before any employee is exposed to a fall hazard, you must train each employee who uses personal fall protection systems or who is required to be trained elsewhere in Subpart D (1910.30(a)(1)). You must ensure a qualified person does the training (1910.30(a)(2)).

Training must cover at least (1910.30(a)(3)):

• The nature of the fall hazards in the work area, how to recognize them, and the procedures to follow to minimize them.
• The correct procedures for installing, inspecting, operating, maintaining, and disassembling the personal fall protection systems the employee uses.
• The correct use of those systems and equipment, including proper hook-up, anchoring, and tie-off techniques, and methods of equipment inspection and storage, as specified by the manufacturer.

You must train each employee in the proper care, inspection, storage, and use of equipment covered by Subpart D before the employee uses it (1910.30(b)(1)).

You must retrain an employee when you have reason to believe the employee lacks the required understanding and skill. Situations include, but are not limited to, changes in the workplace or in the types of fall protection systems or equipment that make previous training obsolete or inadequate, and inadequacies in the employee's knowledge or use of them (1910.30(c)).

You must provide information and training in a manner the employee understands (1910.30(d)).

Written programs and records

The residential roof exception requires a fall protection plan (1910.28(b)(1)(ii)). Sections 1910.22 and 1910.30 do not mention written inspection records or training certifications.

Easy-to-miss requirements

• For any hole less than 4 feet above a lower level, each employee must be protected from tripping into or stepping into or through it by covers or guardrail systems (1910.28(b)(3)(ii)).
• You must train each employee who uses a dockboard to properly place and secure it to prevent unintentional movement (1910.30(b)(2)).
• When an employee is exposed to falling objects, you must ensure each employee wears head protection that meets Subpart I. In addition, you must protect employees from falling objects by one or more of the measures listed in 1910.28(c)(1) through (3), which involve toeboards, screens, or guardrail systems, canopy structures, or barricaded areas (1910.28(c)).

Related guides

• Ladders
• Fall protection

Source

This guide is based on the text of 29 CFR 1910.22, 29 CFR 1910.28, and 29 CFR 1910.30, with scope and definitions from 29 CFR 1910.21, as published on osha.gov. The regulation itself always controls. States that run their own OSHA-approved State Plans may have additional or stricter rules.