• Employees who are engaged in work on low-slope roofs with unprotected sides must be protected from falls.
• Employers must protect workers from falls while working on steep roofs (roofs with slopes greater than 4 to 12, vertical to horizontal)

Low slope roofs

Each employee engaged in roofing activities on low-slop roofs with unprotected sides and edges six feet or more above lower levels must be protected from falling by one of the following methods:

• Guardrail systems
• Safety net systems
• Personal fall arrest systems
• A combination of:
  • Warning line and guardrail systems
  • Warning line and safety net systems
  • Warning line and personal fall arrest systems
  • Warning line safety monitoring systems

On roofs 50 feet or less in width, the use of a safety monitoring system alone is sufficient.

The exception to selecting one of these methods would be if another provision in 1926.501 provides for an alternative fall protection measure.

Appendix A in the regulations (Part 1926 Subpart M) provides guidance on how to correctly measure a roof that is not a rectangle.

Steep roofs

Employers are required to protect workers on roofs with slopes greater than 4 to 12 (vertical to horizontal) when the roof has unprotected sides or edges more than six feet above lower levels by the use of:

• Guardrail systems with toeboards
• Personal fall arrest systems
• Safety net systems

Roof jacks can be used as long as employees are protected from fall hazards by one of the above methods. While roof jacks provide a foothold that may reduce the possibility of falling, they cannot be used as a substitute for fall protection.