Underground Construction

Underground construction makes up a small percentage of fall-related injuries. However, there are standards in place to minimize the risks to employees who work in this environment. The protections include the following:

• Employers are responsible for providing mechanical equipment that can lift awkward or heavy material.
• When a jumbo deck is over 10 feet high, stairways wide enough to accommodate two people must be installed.
• Jumbo decks more than 10 feet high must be equipped with guardrails on all open sides, unless an adjacent surface provides fall protection that is at least as good as the guardrails.
• The only employees allowed to ride a jumbo deck are the operator and an assistant.
• A jumbo deck must be chocked to prevent movement while an employee is working on it.
• All walking or working surfaces on a jumbo deck must be maintained to prevent slipping, tripping, and falling.
• Employees must not ride on top of any cage, skip, or bucket except when necessary to perform inspection or maintenance of the hoisting system, in which case they must be protected by a body belt/harness system to prevent falling.

To learn more about Fall Protection visit our Construction Fall Protection Online Training web page.