The US Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, has promulgated scaffold standards for both general industry and construction. While the scaffold equipment is common to both applications, the standards are not. First, the standards are written in two different styles. The construction standards are performance oriented while the general industry standards are specification oriented. Second, the construction industry scaffold standards are stand alone standards, designed to address only scaffolds. On the other hand, the general industry standards are included in Subpart D – Walking-Working Surfaces. Besides scaffolding, Subpart D also includes stairs, ladders, and other working surfaces. Finally, the construction industry standards were revised in 1996 while the general industry standards await revision and updating.
What determines which standards to use? Although there is no hard rule that determines when construction or general industry standards apply, here are several guidelines to evaluate your specific situation. If the work being done is maintenance and done with “in-house” employees, the general industry standards apply. If the work being done is a modification of an existing situation then the construction industry standards could apply. For example, in a power plant various valves and piping are being replaced with identical members and a scaffold is being used to access the area. In this case, the general industry standards would apply. On the other hand, if the valves and piping are being replaced, modified, added to and expanded, then the construction standards apply. Also, if an outside contractor is employed to do the work, the construction industry standards probably apply. You can go to the OSHA website, www.osha.gov to obtain Letters of Interpretation addressing the issue of general industry standards versus construction industry standards.
Here are selected differences between the general industry and the construction industry scaffold standards:
This describes the major differences between the two standards that apply to the general requirements for scaffolds. There are also some variations when it comes to specific scaffolds. For Tubular Welded Frame Scaffolds, for example, these are the differences:
This short dissertation illustrates the significant differences between the requirements of the two standards; use it to recognize that you cannot take the general industry standards and apply them to a construction industry application or use the construction industry standards in a general industry application. It is necessary to identify which standards apply for the specific application. And of course, no matter which standards apply, it is a safe scaffold that is required.