The Occupational Safety and Health Administration encourages states to develop and operate their own safety and health programs. In fact, OSHA approves and monitors all State Plans. There are 27 state-run programs of which Arizona is one of them. By law, state run plans must be at least as effective as federal OSHA’s which brings us to this blog topic. In a March 19 letter, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration argued that Arizona’s fall protection standard is too lax. Specifically, there are a number of areas where Arizona’s residential fall protection standards are less effective for those employees working between 6 and 16 feet. Under Arizona’s standard, heights of 6 to 15 feet only require a fall protection plan that “reduces or eliminates fall hazards”. Conversely, OSHA’s standard for construction fall protection requires use of conventional fall protection (fall arrest systems, nets, or guardrails) at a height of 6 feet.
The Industrial Commission of Arizona (ICA) has been given an additional 30 days to respond the OSHA letter. At this point, Arizona officials must satisfactorily defend the state’s fall protection standard or enact legislation to make changes that at least meet federal OSHA’s standard. OSHA’s enforcement actions come as no surprise because preventing falls is a serious topic and the leading cause of death in the construction industry. In data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2012, construction fatalities accounted for 775 deaths in the US. Of those, falls accounted for 269 fatalities. Eighty-eight of the fatal falls occurred in the residential construction sector with 25% of them occurring between 6 and 15 feet. Even though Arizona enacted SB 1441 two years ago OSHA does not believes it provides workers enough protection and isn’t equivalent to federal fall protection standards.
The jury is still out on this matter. Compliance Poster Company’s Legal Research and Compliance Team will be monitoring developments as we approach the 30 day mark.