New OSHA regulation requiring ladder safety training?

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22

I dont think they will be watching store front guys. :wink:

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23

Not to mention who uses ladders on store front? At least above 18 ft.

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24

Another benefit for store front work… :wink:

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25

So, do you think we would be in compliance with the new OSHA regulation that we provide ladder safety to our employees if we went over this document with them at our next Staff Meeting?

https://www.osha.gov/Publications/portable_ladder_qc.html

Or is something more formal necessary?

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26

I was told on a Facebook group that per OSHA it must be a qualified (certified) trainer. We have a lot on our plate right bringing onboard 3 legit part time employees by May 1st. I will go over this with them, but it’s on the bottom of the totem pole right now to bring in someone to oversee our process.

27

a course on surviving a ladder fall mite be good. im thinking the trainee is suspended on a harness and then the ladder is slid out from under him.

i myself had a ladder slide out back in 2010 and i had a split second to decide what to do-i did nothing and fell the full drop. but i think if id practiced beforehand [in a safe environment, id have reacted differently

having survived a fall it made me a lot more careful,even to this day i check and double check before ascending my ladder

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28

The IWCA webinar on 5/10 fulfilled the requirement was my understanding, its in their IWCA campus now I believe, along with ladder training etc

I have talked to some businesses that are implementing a no roof walking policy (since there’s no 5,000 lb test anchor points built into homes to attach a lanyard to )

this applies to low rise residential rooftops as well, as a matter of fact, if an employee is on a 6 ft high patio cover he needs to have fall protection (lanyard or net or 42" high railing that supports 200lbs)

and window cleaning is specifically NOT exempt under the “temporary and infrequent” clause per STefan Bright the giving the presentation in the IWCA webinar with link to OSHA section

tough stuff

what plans and adjustments are employee based businesses applying?

this has got to be a real challenge for painters as well

You sold at the right time @Chris

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29

Sooooooooooo, no more gutter cleaning from the roof???

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What doesn’t make sense is for window cleaners to follow the fall protection for residential roof guidelines because in most cases it puts them at greater exposure to risk of falling. In most cases the windows on roofs are close to the roof edge so it is less exposure to go straight to the window your cleaning and back to the ladder rather than going to a higher point on the roof so you can anchor in and then back up to that point and then back down from that higher point to the ladder.

31

Never were suppose to walk a roof prior

32

If you don’t have employees OSHA doesn’t effect you.

That doesn’t mean you should put yourself in danger though either.

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33

I have had employees in the past and will have again. It does affect me.

As for being safe that was my exact point. It’s much safer for me to directly access a window close to the roof line rather than put myself at a greater risk accessing a higher point on the roof to then do the same window. It makes no sense. It’s much safer to go directly to the window.

34

Not to mention if a roof is walkable then accessing the window is safe. If the roof is not walkable then you have no business walking it to access an anchor point.

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35

Our trade is different than other trades (talking about window cleaning alone, with some exceptions), we are not permanently on the roof. We are temporarily on the roof to access a single point on the roof to work for a few minutes and not an extended period of time. Accessing the roof to clean a single window probably takes less time and less risk than accessing an anchor point on the roof. Are there exceptions? Yes. But for the most part using an anchor point with fall protection for cleaning Windows on the roof of a house actually creates more risk or is redundant in terms of the risk (meaning that the risk of accessing an anchor point to secure and then unsecured yourself poses the same risk as the work you would have done on the roof to begin with so it doesn’t reduce risk but simply adds more steps that have absolutely no benefit other than satisfying some idiot who thinks he knows more about your job than you do).

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36

You are being logical not legal

The rules are clear

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37

Exactly. Let’s not use logic when we come up with the laws! That would make too much sense.

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38

Logical Even?

39

The law is the law.

40

I see the competition dropping out of the residential market. To much risk involved. I think residential window cleaning might be dominated by solo operations in the future. At least the houses that you can’t WFP. Kinda like the U.K.

PS
On second thought most of the windows we like to do from a ladder can be done from the inside as long as the top sash isn’t painted shut.

PPS
The method in this video is 100% safe. At least the hi rise guys up 20+ stories think it’s safe. A hi rise guy I know in Boston turned me onto it many years ago for residential use. For that one window a ladder can’t reach with a roof involved.

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41

I never said it wasn’t. Just because it’s “the law” doesn’t mean it’s rational or makes any sense. I never argued to disobeyed the law. I’m simply criticising it because it’s foolish. I don’t have a choice whether or not to follow it if I have employees. There is no law against criticizing it or raising objections to it.

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