OSHA, Roofs, and Ships Ladders, Oh My
Dealing with a big corporate client. They have an existing office building with 15' tall masonry veneer stud walls and 2' parapets around it, a flat roof with some old roof drains, and we moved a few ground mounted condensers up to the roof as part of this mostly interior renovation.
Their safety board requested fixed access even though it's under 16' above the ground, but they also won't allow vertical ladders. We proved that a full stair on the back wall was not feasible, so the CM requested a ships ladder and added a few roof tie off davits near the condensers and roof drains. He did not send it to the safety board like he should have before it was installed, so it got built and now they are pitching a fit.
The ladder itself meets all of the requirements of OSHA 1910.25. But they are throwing some additional leading edge requirements at me, but I think they are just looking at the internet and not what's actually in OSHA.
I'm just curious how you are handling the leading edges where a ladder or stair hits the top of the roof these days? In our case, there is no hole for anyone to fall into. From the top tread you step onto and over the parapet and there is a continuous handrail that extends over the parapet. I've suggested they could add a swing gate, although I think that will make the whole maneuver of turning at the top more complicated. A personal arrest system could be tied to the handrail, or we could add a davit nearby. I don't think we need to add a guardrail at the roof just because someone might be walking to the ladder, but maybe I'm wrong and we should be? How far out would you need to go from the top of the ladder and in what direction?