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Blocking Roof Access - OSHA Requirements?

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  • Blocking Roof Access - OSHA Requirements?

    We are trying to beef up our safety program right now. We sent a couple of brewers to a safety training, where they were told that we couldn't block the access to our stairs (which in most cases makes sense). On our walk through with the brewers, they called out that we block the stairs which are used only for roof access. We currently store a small tank on wheels in front of the roof access stairs. We don't have anything on the roof that we need to access on a regular basis - cooler condensor and HVAC system. If we were inspected by OSHA, would we get gigged on having the tank blocking those stairs? Cheers!

  • #2
    Originally posted by LTD Brewing View Post
    We are trying to beef up our safety program right now. We sent a couple of brewers to a safety training, where they were told that we couldn't block the access to our stairs (which in most cases makes sense). On our walk through with the brewers, they called out that we block the stairs which are used only for roof access. We currently store a small tank on wheels in front of the roof access stairs. We don't have anything on the roof that we need to access on a regular basis - cooler condensor and HVAC system. If we were inspected by OSHA, would we get gigged on having the tank blocking those stairs? Cheers!
    It’s been a long time since I’ve worked directly with OSHA, but if I recall, they are pretty open to voluntary audits allowing you to improve without risk of penalty. The big ones are slips, trips, & falls. I suggest you try to move the tank as a measure of good practice, but I don’t know that it would compromise occupational safety.

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    • #3
      Contact your local OSHA office and ask for a consult. This really is the only way to know what they will want.

      When asked for a consult, OSHA will not issue any violations, just tell you what needs to be fixed before they visit on their own. If they just drop in and you haven't gone through the consult process, you'll likely be looking at thousands of dollars in fines.

      Been there, paid that. We have an annual consult scheduled for next month.
      Timm Turrentine

      Brewerywright,
      Terminal Gravity Brewing,
      Enterprise. Oregon.

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      • #4
        Thanks!

        We were planning on having OSHA out at some point, I just want to do our due diligence first to ensure we get everything we know of corrected first, then have them out. Thanks for the advice and stories though, OSHA is definitely not something we want to mess with, nor do we want to be fined. Cheers!

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