Experienced safety professional will often admit it took them years before realizing that a “general industry” workplace can fall under construction standards (1926) and vice-versa. I know I was well into my career before I came to understand this and once it was explained to me I could see how my maintenance team could fall under both standards depending on the actual work they were performing. Fall protection is one such issue that can sneak up on us: general industry the height at which fall protection begins is 4′ and when doing “construction work” it is 6′. But OSHA has now provided an even better example in their latest LOI regarding digging a gravesite vs. using equipment to lower the coffin into the grave. Although not meant to explain these differences, it is a perfect example of how a single work group would need to apply different standards to their safety to ensure OSHA compliance.
I want to direct those who are looking for the “official definitions” of what “construction work” and “general industry” work is to 1910.12. OSHA defines “construction work” in 1910.12(b), which states…
For purposes of this section, “Construction work” means work for construction, alteration, and/or repair, including painting and decorating. See discussion of these terms in 1926.13 of this title.
So I like to say that if my work crew in a general industry setting is doing work for construction, alteration, and/or repair, including painting and decorating then the 1926 standards apply to their work. Any other work they do, the 1910 standards apply.
Here is how OSHA explains it in their latest LOI… (emphasis added by me)
OSHA is aware that members (and customers) of the National Concrete Burial Vault Association (NCBVA) use specially designed trailers and vehicles equipped with a frame-supported beam to lift, move, and install concrete burial vaults. NCBVA asserts that placing concrete burial vaults into graves is a unique activity with specialized equipment, and that this is not a construction operation.
OSHA’s Cranes and Derricks in Construction standard covers hoisting equipment used in conjunction with a construction activity.Although the act of excavating a grave would be considered a construction activity, the placement of a burial vault in the grave is not a form of construction.There are no connections, either mechanical or electrical, made from a burial vault to other objects or structures. Once the burial vault is placed in the ground, there is no further construction work performed to build onto or otherwise alter its structure.During the placement process, the burial vault is not arranged in a sequence for further hoisting, an action that indicates construction crane activity.
In contrast to the placement of burial vaults, the hoisting of tanks and precast components/structural members, such as sewer pipes and electric vaults, into an excavation would be considered a construction activity because those components/members are positioned by a crane as part of a larger operation, system or structure, and these objects are then connected to other structures, systems, or foundations.The use of a crane in such situations is part of a construction-related operation and would therefore fall within the requirements of the Cranes and Derricks in Construction standard.
To summarize,because the movement and placement of burial vaults is not a construction activity, the specialized equipment used to move/place burial vaults (in a grave) at the cemetery is not covered by the Cranes nd Derricks in Construction standard.As a result,the hazards associated with placement of burial vaults would be appropriately addressed by requirements of mechanized equipment standards for general industry work, including 29 CFR 1910.180, Crawler, Locomotive, and Truck Cranes, or 29 CFR 1910.178, Powered Industrial Trucks and other Specialized Equipment.
As referenced in your letter, OSHA issued a letter of interpretation to the Honorable Ron Kind on October 15, 1999, which stated that the Agency considers activities related to grave excavation as a construction covered by Subpart P Excavations of 29 CFR Part 1926.During grave excavation, hoisting equipment would be covered by the Cranes and Derricks in Construction standard when used, for example, to move or place trench boxes and shoring needed to protect employees from excavation hazards.
CLICK HEREto see the entire LOI
So as this LOI demonstrates, safety professionals need to be on their game just to meet OSHA compliance, which is the bare minimum required for the safety of workers. As I have demonstrated in my Incident Alerts, there have been excavation fatalities while digging grave sites so this is nothing to take lightly.