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Administrative Requirements >>

Access

The employer must provide safe access to and from all work levels or surfaces. Regulated means of access are as follows:

  1. Stairways, ramps, or ladders must be provided at all points where a break in elevation of 18 in. or more occurs in a frequently traveled passageway, entry, or exit. 1629(a)(3)
  2. Aerial devices, such as cherry pickers and boom trucks, may be vehicle-mounted or self-propelled and used to position employees, tools, and materials. 3637, 3648
  3. Elevating work platforms, such as vertical towers and scissor lifts, are designed to raise and to hold a work platform in a substantially vertical axis. 3637, 3642
  4. Industrial trucks, such as rough terrain forklifts, may be used to elevate and position workers under specific conditions. 3657
  5. Elevators (construction) are required as follows:
    1. For structures or buildings 60 ft. or more above ground level or 48 ft. below ground level. 1630(a)
    2. At demolition sites of seven or more stories or 72 ft. or more in height. 1735(r)

    6. Note: Elevators must be inspected and tested in the presence of a DOSH representative before use. A permit from DOSH to operate is required. 1604.29(a)

  6. Personnel hoists may be used at special construction sites, such as bridges and dams, if approved by a registered engineer. 1604.1(c)
  7. Ladders can be used to gain access to working surfaces above and below ground level under certain conditions. 1629, 1675(a)
  8. Ramps and runways provide means of access for foot or vehicle traffic. 1623, 1624, 1625
  9. Stairways must be installed in buildings that have two or more stories or are 24 ft. or more in height. 1629(a)(1)
    1. For buildings of two and three stories, at least one stairway is required. 1629(a)(4)
    2. For buildings of more than three stories, two or more stairways are required. 1629(a)(4)
  10. The following routes of access are prohibited:
    1. Endless-belt-type manlifts.1604.1(a)(3)
    2. Single- cleat more than 30ft or double-cleat ladders more than 24 ft. long 1629(c)
    3. Cleats nailed to studs. 1629(b)
    4. Rides on loads, hooks, slings, or concrete buckets of derricks, hoists, or cranes. 1718(a), 1720(c)(3)