Wash. Admin. Code § 296-880-40040 - [Effective until 10/7/2024] Warning line system requirements
Warning line systems and their use must conform to the following provisions:
Warning line system specifications used on roofs with a pitch of four in twelve or less for roofing work, leading edge work and on low pitched open sided surfaces for work activities other than roofing work or leading edge work. The employer must ensure the following:
(1) Warning lines
must be erected around all unprotected sides and edges of the work
area.
(a) Warning lines used during
roofing work:
(i) When roofing work
is taking place or when mechanical equipment is not being used, the
warning line must be erected not less than six feet (1.8 m) from the
edge of the roof;
(ii)
When mechanical equipment is being used, the warning line must be
erected not less than six feet (1.8 m) from the roof edge which is
parallel to the direction of mechanical equipment operation, and not
less than ten feet (3.1 m) from the roof edge which is perpendicular
to the direction of mechanical equipment operation.
(b) Warning lines
erected for leading edge work. Warning lines must be erected to
separate employees who are engaged in leading edge work (between the
forward edge of the warning line and the leading edge), from other
work areas on the low pitched surface. The employer must ensure:
(i) The warning line is erected not
less than six feet nor more than twenty-five feet from the leading
edge; and
(ii) When fall
arrest systems as described in WAC 296-880-40020, or fall restraint
systems as described in WAC 296-880-40025 are not used, the employer
must implement a safety monitor system as described in WAC
296-880-40045 to protect employees engaged in constructing the
leading edge who are working between the forward edge of the warning
line and the leading edge.
(c) Warning lines erected on low
pitched open sided surfaces for work activities other than roofing
work, or leading edge work must be erected not less than fifteen feet
from the unprotected sides or edges of the open sided
surface.
(2)
The warning line must consist of a rope, wire, or chain and
supporting stanchions erected as follows:
(a) The rope, wire, or chain must
be flagged at not more than six foot (1.8 m) intervals with high
visibility material. Highly visible caution or danger tape as
described in (d) of this subsection, does not need to be
flagged.
(b) The rope,
wire, or chain must be rigged and supported in such a way that its
lowest point (including sag) is no less than thirty-six inches from
the surface and its highest point is no more than forty-five inches
from the surface.
(c)
After being erected, with the rope, wire or chain attached,
stanchions must be capable of resisting, without tipping over, a
force of at least sixteen pounds (71 N) applied horizontally against
the stanchion, thirty inches (0.76 m) above the surface,
perpendicular to the warning line, and in the direction of the
unprotected sides or edges of the surface.
(d) The rope, wire, or chain must
have a minimum tensile strength of five hundred pounds (2.22 kN), and
after being attached to the stanchions, must be capable of
supporting, without breaking, the loads applied to the stanchions.
Highly visible caution or danger tape may be used in lieu of rope,
wire, or chain as long as it is at least three inches wide and three
mils thick, and has a tensile strength of at least two hundred
pounds.
(e) The line must
be attached at each stanchion in such a way that pulling on one
section of the line between stanchions will not result in slack being
taken up in adjacent sections before the stanchion tips
over.
(3) The
employer must erect access paths as follows:
(a) Points of access, materials
handling areas, and storage areas must be connected to the work area
by a clear access path formed by two warning lines.
(b) When the path to a point of
access is not in use, the employer must place a rope, wire, or chain,
equal in strength and height to the warning line, across the path at
the point where the path intersects the warning line erected around
the work area.
Notes
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No prior version found.