Elevated Work Areas

Elevated work area temperatures at operating floor level in the enclosure may be a problem. Limited louver openings or wall-type fans can be used for cooling if operators must normally spend prolonged periods in the enclosure. 

A protective barrier consisting of top rails, mid-rails, toeboards, and supporting uprights, erected to protect individuals from falling off an elevated work area and to prevent objects from falling onto individuals below. 

Top rails and mid-rails secured to uprights/posts, erected at the exposed sides and ends of platforms to prevent workers from falling off the elevated work area or to prevent them from reaching or contacting a potential hazard. See also Railings. 

Ladders must not be tied or fastened together to create longer sections unless they are specifically designed for such use. A metal spreader or locking device must be provided on each stepladder to hold the front and back sections in an open position when the ladder is being used. Two or more separate ladders used to reach an elevated work area must be offset with a platform or landing between the ladders, except when portable ladders are used to gain access to fixed ladders. 

Eliminate the free fall hazard during all phases of the job (traveling to and from elevated work areas as well as during the performance of the task at the elevated work area) by means of temporary scaffolding, platforms, railings, man lifts, and ladders, etc. 

Many believe that hazardous conditions are the primary cause of workplace injuries. Without a doubt, unsafe conditions can and do contribute to many injuries. If a machine is unguarded, if the brakes are defective on a forklift, or if a handrailing is missing from an elevated work area, workers can be injured. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration concentrates on unsafe physical conditions of the workplace and does not usually consider behavioral issues. Most of the OSH A standards focus on identifying things in the workplace as opposed to not focusing on how workers behave. However, many times an unsafe condition is a direct result of the failure of management or en loyees to take corrective action. 

Vents and flares are intended to take contaminants released from safety valves away from work areas. However, if an elevated vent is at the level of an occupiable platform on the same or an adjacent unit, a worker may, under certain wind conditions, be subject to the nearly undiluted effluent of a vent. Whereas such elevated platforms may rarely be occupied, a heavy exposure from a vent could incapacitate a worker or cause a fall. Tanks that vent only when being filled are common causes of this concern. The usual solution is to raise the vent above any occupiable platform or, at greater cost, to scmb the vent effluent. 

PR valves in toxic vapor services where discharge to the atmosphere would result in the calculated concentration at the property line or at any working area (either at grade or an elevated platform) exceeding the Threshold Limit Value (TLV). 

Reference Markers. Plant layout on the site requires a starting or reference point after the exact location of the property has been determined by permanent property markers already established or by independent survey of a local surveying firm. Markers are usually large-diameter capped steel pipe set in concrete, located outside the construction area, so that directional and elevation data can be taken relative to these permanent posts. One marker is called the zero corner point and all measurements start from there. Plant north and its relation to true north are next set up so that master plot plans can be oriented to the plant site and surveying stakes located in the working area. 

Elevated Work Equipment Platforms Overhead systems have protection for falling materials Platform edges and opening properly guarded Platforms free of unorganized materials adequate walk/stand areas ... 

Although the study found only a weak and nonsignificant link between a report of any renovation activity and the likelihood that a resident child had an elevated blood-lead level, the link to the likelihood of an elevated blood-lead level was statistically significant for surface preparation by sanding and for renovation work that spreads dust and debris beyond the work area. 

EPA does not believe that the Reissman et al. study is supportive of the contention that visual inspection of the work area is sufficient because it did not evaluate the effectiveness of a visual inspection requirement. The study did not measure dust lead levels, which are the basis for this rule. Instead, it characterized the relationships between elevated blood-lead levels and renovation dust and debris that spread throughout the housing. EPA notes that Reissman et al. concluded that there was a correlation between renovation activities and elevated blood-lead levels. 

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