• Orange railings on construction siteEn construction image by Kob from Fotolia.com
  
  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires railings as a form of fall protection for workers when there are holes in walls or floors or there is a possibility that a worker can fall from a level to one below. It is the employer's responsibility to assess such conditions and provide the necessary fall protection. The railing guidelines can be found in Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
  
  

General Guard Railing

• OSHA regulations call for a railing system that can be permanent or removable depending on the usage of floor openings; wall holes and openings; open-sided floors, platforms, and runways; and stairways.
  
  

Guard Railing Specifics

• The OSHA standards specify that all guardrail systems must consist of a toe board, a mid rail and a top rail. This system must be able to sustain a load of 200 pounds when struck. The posts must not be spaced further than eight feet apart. Top rails must be a minimum of 42 inches high. Mid rails must be a minimum of 21 inches high and toe boards must be at least four inches in height and no more than ¼ inch from the platform floor.
  
  

General Industry vs. Construction

• In the General Industry Standards OSHA requires fall protection when a worker will be more than four feet above the next lower grade. Conversely, the Construction Standards requires fall protection when a worker is more than six feet above grade.
  
  

Special Considerations

• When using scaffolding, pump jacks and ladder jacks in construction, the guard railing does not have to be installed unless the worker is more than 10 feet above the next lower grade. When this guard railing system is installed, it must meet the same specifications as other applications. When a worker is going to be elevated above the grade where the railing system is being used, the guard railing system must also be elevated--if a worker will be on stilts for installing and finishing drywall and those stilts will elevate the worker 12 inches, the top rail will have to be elevated to 54 inches (12 inches above the mandatory 42-inch minimum) and the mid rail will have to be elevated to 33 inches to ensure it is in the middle section of the guard railing system.