OSHA's walking-working surfaces rule requires more proactive work for businesses

February 21st, 2017 by Dakota Software Staff Industry News

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's ability to make new rules is severely limited by President Donald Trump's executive order that requires the repeal of two existing regulations for every new one issued. That limitation doesn't affect health and safety rules developed and put in place before Trump took office, however.

The official publication of OSHA's updates to its walking-working surfaces and personal fall protection regulations occurred a few days before the new administration took over. Those rules must now be followed by a very wide range of businesses. There's been little organized opposition to them, especially in contrast to other, hotly contested OSHA regulations. The biggest practical change stemming from the new rules is an increased expectation for businesses to inspect the walking and working surfaces at their facilities, risk management specialist Jennifer Stroschein wrote.

An increased responsibility for employers
The language contained in the updated rules requires businesses to inspect all surfaces that employees may walk or work on. This is a significant change from the previous rule, which only required inspections for ladders and scaffolds. OSHA took extra steps to make the definition of walking and working surfaces clearer in the update, defining a number of surfaces from floors, aisles and walkways to trailers, manholes and step bolts. The rule boils down to requiring a regular look at any surface used by employees in the course of their duties.

These efforts need to have some sort of schedule associated with them, although Stroschein noted an informal plan is acceptable under OSHA's requirements. Businesses must then carry out inspections in line with that schedule, as well as when other factors make them necessary. Examples include a spill or storm creating potentially dangerous conditions on walking and working surfaces inside or outside of a building.

The updated rules also make some significant changes to requirements for personal fall protection systems, as Conn Maciel Carey LLP pointed out. Businesses have to train any workers required to use personal fall protection on hazards related to falls and equipment within six months of the rule's Jan. 17, 2017, effective date. Inspections of permanent anchorage points inside buildings must occur within a year of that date. For fixed ladders, fall protection elements must be in place by Jan. 17, 2019, and inspections of any new fixed ladders must occur at the same time.