Fall Protection Basics

The 6-foot rule, guardrails, personal fall arrest systems, harness and lanyard inspection, anchor points, fall clearance, and why 100 percent tie-off saves lives.

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Falls & elevated work · 29 CFR 1926.501

Falls kill more construction workers than any other single hazard, year after year. OSHA's rule is simple. If you are working 6 feet or more above a lower level, you need fall protection, whether that is a guardrail, a net, or a harness tied off to a solid anchor. The gear only works if it is inspected, worn right, and actually connected.

Key hazards

• Working near unprotected edges, floor holes, skylights, and stair openings without rails or covers
• Wearing a harness but never connecting it, or clipping to a guardrail or other weak anchor
• Lanyards too long for the height, so you strike the lower level before the system can arrest the fall
• Frayed webbing, bent hooks, pulled stitching, or an already deployed shock absorber
• Hole covers that slide, flip, or fail because they were never secured or marked
• Swing falls when your anchor is far off to the side of where you are working

Safe practices

• Use guardrails, safety nets, or a personal fall arrest system any time you work 6 feet or more above a lower level.
• Inspect your harness and lanyard before every shift. Check webbing, stitching, D-rings, snap hooks, and the shock pack, and take damaged gear out of service.
• Wear the harness snug, with the dorsal D-ring centered between your shoulder blades and the leg straps tight.
• Tie off only to anchors rated for 5,000 pounds per worker or approved as part of an engineered system by a qualified person. A guardrail is not an anchor.
• Do the fall clearance math before you trust a lanyard. A 6 foot lanyard with a shock absorber can need 18 feet or more of clearance below the anchor.
• Stay tied off 100 percent of the time at height. Use a twin leg lanyard so you are always connected while moving.
• Anchor as close to straight overhead as you can to prevent swing falls.
• Cover every hole with material that can take twice the expected load, secure it so it cannot slide, and mark it clearly as a cover.
• If you remove a guardrail to land material, guard the opening while it is open and put the rail back immediately.
• Retire any harness or lanyard that has arrested a fall, no matter how it looks.

Discussion questions

• Where are we anchoring on this job, and who verified those anchor points?
• Does everyone know the fall clearance under their tie-off point today?
• If someone falls and is left hanging in a harness, what is our rescue plan and how fast can we get them down?

If something goes wrong

• A worker hanging after a fall arrest is an emergency. Suspension in a harness can turn deadly in minutes, so start the rescue immediately and call 911.
• Keep everyone away from the area under a suspended worker or a compromised edge until it is controlled.
• Report the fall, take the equipment out of service, and have the anchor and system inspected before anyone ties off there again.

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