Construction loads, 1926.701(a)
No construction loads may be placed on a concrete structure unless the employer determines, based on information received from a person qualified in structural design, that the structure can support the loads.
Staging pallets of CMU on a recently placed elevated slab needs that determination first. What does not satisfy the rule:
- A minimum slab age, such as 7 days. The standard has no age rule.
- A concrete foreman's visual check for cracking. That is not information from a person qualified in structural design.
- A light-load allowance, such as 50 psf with no review. No such figure appears in the rule.
Protruding rebar, 1926.701(b)
All protruding reinforcing steel onto and into which employees could fall shall be guarded to eliminate the hazard of impalement. Workers on a wall-form platform above footing dowels need those dowels guarded.
- High-visibility tape marks the steel but does not eliminate impalement.
- There is no 6 ft trigger in this rule. It applies wherever employees could fall onto or into the steel.
- The standard requires guarding, not bending the dowels over.
Behind the jack, 1926.701(c)(1)
During tensioning, no employee except those essential to the post-tensioning operation may be behind the jack.
- The rule turns on whether the worker is essential, not on hard hats or face shields.
- It is not limited to the competent person for the pour; that names the wrong group.
- The area does not have to be empty. Essential employees are permitted there.
Access control, 1926.701(c)(2)
Signs and barriers shall be erected to limit employee access to the post-tensioning area during tensioning.
Both are required. Caution tape alone is neither the sign nor the barrier the rule calls for, and the standard does not substitute a written permit from the engineer of record or a spotter at each tendon anchor.
Quick recall
- Loads: employer decides, from a person qualified in structural design.
- Rebar: guard it against impalement.
- Jack: essential employees only.
- PT area: signs and barriers.