DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

29 CFR Part 1926

[Docket No. S-205] RIN 1218-AA40

Safety Standards for Scaffolds Used in the Construction Industry

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Final rule; Corrections, Partial stay.

SUMMARY: This document makes corrections to the final rule on Safety Standards for Scaffolds Used in the Construction Industry, which was published in the Federal Register on August 30, 1996 at 61 FR 46026. The Agency is also issuing an administrative stay of the implementation of final rule Sec. 1926.451(b)(2)(i) as it relates to roof bracket scaffolds.

EFFECTIVE DATE: The corrections take effect November 25, 1996. The administrative stay of Sec. 1926.451(b)(2)(i) is effective November 29, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Bonnie Friedman, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Office of Information, Division of Consumer Affairs, Room N-3647, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. 20210; Telephone (202) 219-8151.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document contains miscellaneous minor corrections to the final rule for Safety Standards for Scaffolds Used in the Construction Industry, which was published on August 30, 1996 (61 FR 46026).

This document also stays the implementation of the requirement in final rule Sec. 1926.451(b)(2)(i) that roof bracket scaffolds be at least 12 inches wide. The Murray-Black Co., a manufacturer of roof bracket scaffolds, has filed a petition for review of final subpart L in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit with respect to the roof bracket width requirement. The Agency has received information from Murray-Black and other manufacturers of roof bracket scaffolds which indicates that most roof bracket scaffolds currently in use are either 8 or 10 inches wide and that those roof brackets function adequately. The original requirements of subpart L do not set a minimum width for such scaffolds.

OSHA has concluded that the submissions by Murray-Black and other scaffold manufacturers raise reasonable concerns regarding the minimum width requirements for roof bracket scaffolds in final rule Sec. 1926.451(b)(2)(i). The Agency believes that further rulemaking is needed to determine what minimum width would be appropriate for roof bracket scaffolds. Accordingly, OSHA is staying Sec. 1926.451(b)(2)(i), as regards roof bracket scaffolds, and will act expeditiously to initiate notice and comment rulemaking that addresses the minimum width of roof bracket scaffolds.

Authority

This document was prepared under the direction of Joseph A. Dear, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210.

Signed at Washington, D.C. this 20th day of November 1996.

Joseph A. Dear,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.

Accordingly, the publication of August 30, 1996 of Safety Standards for Scaffolds Used in the Construction Industry (61 FR 46026) is hereby corrected as set forth below.

Summary and Explanation--[Corrected]

1. On page 46085, the reference to 1926.451(e)(1) in the first full paragraph in the middle column is corrected to read 1926.451(g)(1).

1926.451 [Corrected]

2. On page 46107, in the first column, Sec. 1926.451(a)(2) is corrected by removing the word "either" in the sixth line of the paragraph.

3. On page 46108, in the first column, Sec. 1926.451(c)(2) is corrected to read:

*   *   *   *   *

(c) * * * (2) Supported scaffold poles, legs, posts, frames, and uprights shall bear on base plates and mud sills or other adequate firm foundation.

*   *   *   *   *

4. On page 46109, in the first column, Sec. 1926.451(d)(13) is corrected to read:

*   *   *   *   *

(d) * * * (13) Suspension scaffold power-operated hoists and manual hoists shall be tested by a qualified testing laboratory.

*   *   *   *   *

5. On page 46110, the chart in Sec. 1926.451(f)(6) is corrected to read:

6. On page 46110, in the first column, the introductory language of the Exception is corrected to read:

Exception to Paragraph (f)(6):

*   *   *   *   *

1926.453 [Corrected]

7. On page 46117, in the first column, at the end of paragraph (b)(2)(v) the following note is added:

Note to paragraph (b)(2)(v): As of January 1, 1998, subpart M of this part (Sec. 1926.502(d)) provides that body belts are not acceptable as part of a personal fall arrest system. The use of a body belt in a tethering system or in a restraint system is acceptable and is regulated under Sec. 1926.502(e).

*   *   *   *   *

Non-mandatory Appendix E--[Corrected]

8. On page 46124, a caption is added below the drawing to read:

HOISTS MUST BE ELECTRONICALLY ISOLATED FROM SCAFFOLD

*   *   *   *

PART 1926--[AMENDED]

9. The authority citation for subpart L of part 1926 continues to read as follows:

Authority: Section 107, Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (Construction Safety Act) (40 U.S.C. 333); Secs. 4, 6, 8, Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 653, 655, 657); Secretary of Labor's Order 1-90 (55 FR 9033); and 29 CFR Part 1911.

10. Section 1926.451(b)(2)(i) is amended by adding a note at the end of the paragraph to read as follows:

1926.451 General Requirements. *   *   *   *   *

(b) * * * (2) * * * (i) * * *

Note to paragraph (b)(2)(i): pursuant to an administrative stay effective November 29, 1996 and published in the Federal Register on November 25, 1996, the requirement in paragraph (b)(2)(i) that roof bracket scaffolds be at least 12 inches wide is stayed until November 25, 1997 or until rulemaking regarding the minimum width of roof bracket scaffolds has been completed, whichever is later.

*   *   *   *   *

[FR Doc. 96-30018 Filed 11-22-96; 8:45 am]