Fall Protection Plan Template
A written fall protection plan is the narrow exception in 1926.501(b)(2)(i), not a shortcut around Subpart M. Fill this in only after you can show that guardrails, nets and a personal fall arrest system are all infeasible or create a greater hazard on the specific task in front of you.
This plan is only lawful where conventional systems are infeasible or create a greater hazard on leading-edge, precast-concrete or residential work \u2014 1926.501(b)(2)(i). It must be prepared by a qualified person and kept at the jobsite.
Plan identification
When a plan is lawful
1926.501(b)(2)(i) permits a fall protection plan only where the employer can demonstrate that guardrails, safety nets and personal fall arrest systems are infeasible or create a greater hazard. The same exception is repeated for precast concrete erection in (b)(12) and residential construction in (b)(13).
Everywhere else — an ordinary slab edge, a hole, a hoist area — the plan is not an option. Reach for the standard itself first.
Warning
What 1926.502(k) requires in the document
- Prepared by a qualified person and developed specifically for the site where the work is being performed.
- Maintained up to date; any changes approved by a qualified person.
- A copy kept at the jobsite.
- Documented reasons why conventional systems are infeasible or create a greater hazard.
- A written discussion of other measures taken to reduce or eliminate the fall hazard.
- Identification of each location where conventional systems cannot be used — those become controlled access zones.
- Names or job titles of the employees designated to work in a controlled access zone.
- An investigation of any fall or other serious incident, with the plan changed if it was inadequate.
The form above carries a field for each of these, in that order.
Controlled access zones and monitors
1926.502(g)(1)(i): control lines are erected not less than 6 feet nor more than 25 feet from the unprotected edge, except that for precast erection the far limit is 60 feet or half the panel length.
The safety monitor, under 1926.502(h), must be a competent person, on the same walking/working surface as the employees monitored, close enough to communicate orally, and — the clause that fails most audits — must have no other responsibilities that could take their attention from the monitoring function.
Caution