How often is fall protection training required in construction?

Who must be trained

Under 29 CFR 1926.503(a)(1), the employer must provide a training program for each employee who might be exposed to fall hazards. The program must enable each employee to recognize the hazards of falling and train them in the procedures to follow to minimize those hazards.

The trigger is possible exposure, not job title. A laborer, roofer, or electrician who may work near an unprotected edge, hole, or other fall hazard is covered.

Who can deliver the training

Section 1926.503(a)(2) requires that each employee be trained, as necessary, by a competent person qualified in the listed areas. Those areas include the nature of fall hazards in the work area, the correct procedures for erecting, maintaining, disassembling, and inspecting the fall protection systems in use, and the use and operation of systems such as guardrails, personal fall arrest, safety nets, warning lines, and safety monitoring.

Because the training must cover the systems actually used on the job, general instruction usually needs to be paired with site-specific instruction from a competent person.

The written certification record

Section 1926.503(b)(1) requires the employer to verify training by preparing a written certification record. It must contain the name or other identity of the employee trained, the date(s) of training, and the signature of the person who conducted the training or of the employer.

If the employer relies on training conducted by another employer, the record must show the date the employer determined that prior training was adequate, rather than the date of the original training. Under 1926.503(b)(2), the latest certification record must be maintained.

When retraining is required

Section 1926.503(c) requires retraining when the employer has reason to believe a trained employee does not have the required understanding and skill. The rule lists situations that require retraining, without limiting it to them: changes in the workplace that make previous training obsolete; changes in the types of fall protection systems or equipment that make previous training obsolete; and inadequacies in an employee's knowledge or use of fall protection that show the employee has not retained the required understanding or skill.

The standard does not specify an annual or other fixed refresher interval. Many employers set periodic refreshers as company policy, but that is a policy choice, not a requirement of 1926.503.

Ladders and stairways

Ladder and stairway training falls under a separate rule, 29 CFR 1926.1060. Section 1926.1060(a) requires a training program for each employee using ladders and stairways, as necessary, so they can recognize related hazards and follow procedures to minimize them. Section 1926.1060(b) requires retraining as necessary so the employee maintains that understanding and knowledge. Like 1926.503, it sets no fixed interval.