Source: https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=INTERPRETATIONS&p_id=24311
Timestamp: 2017-06-24 19:22:13
Document Index: 631063125

Matched Legal Cases: ['§1926', 'art 1926', '§1926', '§1926', '§1926', '§1926', '§1926', '§1926']

05/03/2001 - Use of aerial lifts to transport workers to elevated workstations; scissor lifts are not covered by the aerial lift provisions. | Occupational Safety and Health Administration
1926.453(b)(2); 1926.453(b)(2)(iii); 1926.453(b)(2)(v); 1926.501(b)(1); 1926.452(w); 1926.451; 1926.502(d); 1926.453
This is in response to your letter of July 26, 2000, requesting
interpretations on the use of aerial lifts to transport workers
to and from elevated workstations and the applicability of
§1926.453(b)(2)(iii) to scissor lifts. We apologize for the
lateness of this response.
Question 1: Do the OSHA standards permit employers to use
aerial lifts to transport workers to and from elevated work
stations where the basket is either set down on an elevated
surface or placed at the edge of a structure?
Answer: OSHA standards do not prohibit employees from
exiting or entering an aerial lift basket that rests on or
adjacent to an elevated surface. Section 1926.453(b)(2)(v)
requires that employees working from aerial lifts be tied-off. On
the other hand, when employees move from the basket to the
elevated surface, the requirements in 29 CFR Part 1926 Subpart M
apply. In particular, §1926.501(b)(1) requires fall
protection at 6 feet above a lower level. A worker may enter or
exit an aerial lift (at heights above 6 feet) provided that fall
protection such as guardrails or a fall arrest system is used
while the worker moves between the lift and the working surface.
A fall arrest system and its components must meet the criteria in
§1926.502(d). During entry to and egress from the lift, a
worker may tie-off to the lift (if the lift is designed to
withstand the vertical and lateral loads imposed by the
employee's movement itself or by an arrested fall) or to an
appropriate nearby structure.
Question 2: Do the provisions of §1926.453(b)(2)(iii)
apply to scissor lifts?
Answer: No. Section 1926.453(b)(2)(iii), which prohibits
"belting off to an adjacent pole, structure, or equipment
while working from an aerial lift," does not apply to
scissor lifts. The aerial lift requirements (§1926.453)
incorporate by reference the definition of aerial lifts used in
the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) A92.2-1969
standard. Scissor lifts are not addressed in that ANSI standard,
and therefore are not covered by the aerial lift provisions.
Since scissor lifts are a type of work platform, they are covered
under the specific requirements for mobile scaffolds in
§1926.452(w) and the general requirements for scaffolds in
§1926.451.
Sections 1926.452(w) and 1926.451 do not address hazards
associated with tying-off to an adjacent pole, structure, or
equipment while working from a scissor lift. Under Section
5(a)(1) (the "General Duty Clause") of the Occupational
Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act), you would be prohibited
from tying-off to the adjacent structure only in those situations
where that practice is recognized as a hazard by the industry or
by safety experts and another means of fall protection is