Well, my wife would laugh at the term "duty" because she is a sucker for potty jokes. But the duty to have fall protection is a serious business to OSHA. What does OSHA have to say about this? How about we give you the cliff notes!
- You must determine that the walking and working surfaces of your job site have the structural integrity to support employees safely.
- Employees exposed to an unprotected edge which is 6 feet or more above a lower level must be protected from falling by either guardrails, safety net systems, or personal fall arrest systems.
That's it. Now, there are exceptions and variations to this basic concept based on working environments, and we plan to work our way through these requirements in the coming weeks. But for now, let that those basic rules sink into everything you do.
