Exiting Aerial Lift onto roof

Platesurfer said:

Technically you probably have to be tied the whole time but around here even on commercial sites it seems to be accepted.

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Appreciate the practical response of what actually is the best solution in the field. Thanks!

I personally prefer exiting a lift.

Set up the right way, if you fall, you’ll slide into the lift.

And once a vertical lifeline is attached,
100% tie off should be possible.

Seven-Delta-FortyOne said:

I personally prefer exiting a lift.

Set up the right way, if you fall, you’ll slide into the lift.

And once a vertical lifeline is attached,
100% tie off should be possible.

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Good points to consider. Thanks!

As I understand our employees have to be tied off 100% of the time, and we should strive for that.
Another point is someone can not exit a lift while still tied off to the lift.
Can a life safety rope be attached to the roof anchor point and run to the edge of the roof? Then the person could exit the lift and attach to the rope while walking the 20‘ to the main roof anchor point.
There are a lot of devices and hardware, ascenders and decenders, that allow the person to stay safely connected.
The anchor point being attached and being removed are the exceptions to required fall protection.

A side note, I took a fall protection class years ago, when asking the instructor how I was to set up anchors etc on a finished roof that is being painted, his response was “we don’t tell you how to do it, just what you are required to do, sometimes you have to get creative.”

As long as you're tied of before stepping out of lift and onto roof.

The real question is do you have to be tied off in the aerial lift? I've been told it depends on what type of lift your using. Scissor lift with rails vs. manlift.

These types of issues are like trying to determine if your trailer is overweight for the frost laws, you never get the same answer from two different DOT guys.

Actually it’s pretty simple.

The only lift you are not required to be tied off in, is a scissor lift.

This is because, more than likely, the shock of the fall arrest would tip the lift over on top of the worker.

When exiting an aerial lift onto a structure, 100% tie off is required.

There are many ways to accomplish that, it’s up to the employer to figure out how.