The OSHA Scaffolding Issue
In our meeting with OSHA a couple of months ago, we touched on 5 issues that were important to our industry. One of those issues was the use of integral ladders as access to scaffolding (CFR 1926.451 (e)(6) and (7)).
Last year, OSHA issued an official interpretation of this regulation and said that Non-Stop Scaffolding did not meet the current OSHA regulations. In essence, every contractor who owns ANY Non-Stop Scaffolding manufactured before this year, could possibly be cited by OSHA for unsafe access to scaffolding. Replacing all of this scaffolding would present an unfair financial burden to mason contractors throughout the country, while there is no sufficient data that the use of this scaffolding is unsafe. Therefore, the MCAA has written a letter to OSHA's Directorate of Construction recommending that any old scaffolding be grandfathered such that no citations would be given.
If you have received an OSHA citation for this violation or any other violation that is related to scaffolding or fall protection, please contact MCAA's Director of Engineering at rjohnson@masoncontractors.org to discuss it.
About the Author
Rashod R. Johnson, P.E., is president of The Roderick Group in Chicago. He is the former Director of Engineering for the Mason Contractors Association of America and currently serves as a technical consultant to the association.
