OSHA GUARD RAILS CODE

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Occupational Safety & Health Administration Robert RE: OSHA handrail or guardrail? rfied112 (Structural) Sorry, I can't reliably guess about the handrail/guardrail quandry for your particular case for a tower. OSHA, on raised working platforms, requires a toe guard as well.

OSHA GUARD RAILS CODE

That limited access (or professional worker only) access throws normal Buildig Code rules out the window. All handrails (home & business) should have 1-1/2' clear from the wall or any projecting knuckle-knocker.īut this is for a commercial maintenance (non-access to general customers!) tower in a county I'm not familar with. Homes don't need the 12' extensions either. Homes don't the 42' high guardrail, and most of the time the house combines the top of its guardrail at 36' (+/-2') with the handrail requirement- also 36' from the floor. Commercial building handrails should return (under or into the wall), and not just terminate in mid-air.ĪDA-ramps more than 15' total rise need the ADA-handrail as well: but check that 15' max rise. At the bottom, extend the handrail down one more stair tread (so the handrail projects onto the floor), then go the 12' flat. A business ADA-compliant handrail should extend horizontally 12' more at the top, measured from the nose of the upper tread. That 36' is measured at the nose of the treads. RE: OSHA handrail or guardrail? rfied112 (Structural)Ĭheck (your local) Building Code requirements carefully: I work part-time in ornamental iron railings and stair handrails, and this kind of confusion and differences come up with ADA as well.Ĭommercial (all business-accessible areas used by the general public) buildings, around a raised platform more than 30' up, require a 42' high guardrail whose sides meet the 4' maximum opening rule AND a separate (for stairs and ramps) handrail 36' (+/- 2') high. It looks to me like this could be interpreted to apply to standard railings and stair railings as well as handrails. 1910.23e(6) requires 3' clearance for handrails and railings. I'd like to know where your client is coming up with 1.5' clearance for handrail. A standard railing is required around the platform, and it falls under OHSA 1910.23, Guarding floor and wall openings and holes. So going back to rfied112's orginal question.

OHSA 1910.21 however uses the terms standard railing, stair railing and a handrail.Ī stair railing is basically a guard on the sides of a stair, that can also act as a handrail.Ī handrail is a rail mounted to a wall to furnish people a handhold to prevent tripping and falling down the stair. Most codes require guards where there is a drop off more than 30 inches. that prevents a person falling off the level they're on to an adjacent lower level. It can be anything (wall, ornamental pattern, etc). Also note that a guard doesn't have to be a rail. Most building codes differentiate between a guard and a handrail as swearingen discussed above. (assuming our course it doesn't violate a code or create a hazardous condition.) I agree, always give the client what he/she wants, whether its' necessary or not.

Osha guard rails