Installation and disassembly of marine hanging staging poses serious potential fall hazards to workers. The following general precautions should be taken for controlling fall hazards and ensuring that the work can be performed safely.

Minimize Amount of Work Performed at Heights

OSHA recommends that the employer reduce the potential for falls during installation and disassembly by keeping work performed at heights to a minimum. One way to minimize this work is to assemble as many staging components as possible at ground level. For example, attaching wire rope clips and backing rods for the support of struts at predetermined lengths on suspension cable assemblies and tightening them can be performed at ground level.

Use Independent Fall Arrest Systems Where Possible

Although in most cases the erecting and dismantling of marine hanging staging is performed from the lowest level upward, certain scaffold configurations or sequences of installation and disassembly may not enable workers to always be restrained from falls by guardrails. Securing fall protection equipment to the scaffold itself, regardless of its size or readiness for use, may compromise the scaffold's designed safety factor.