OSHA Fall Hazard Blind Spots: Openings & Maintenance Access

July 8, 2025, 12:36 pm | by Ray Nardo

The Hidden Hazards You Walk Past Every Day

Skylights, hatches, mezzanine pits. Tops of silos, tanks, or HVAC units. These areas don’t always look dangerous — until someone falls.

When it comes to fall protection in general industry, the two most overlooked categories are:

  • Openings that aren’t always open
  • Machinery maintenance access points

Both are common. Both are deadly. And both are called out clearly in OSHA and ANSI standards.

  1. Openings That Aren’t Always Open

Skylights, roof hatches, mezzanine drops, floor cutouts, and pit access points

These are deceptively dangerous areas. Whether they’re used once a month or once a day, any opening that a worker could fall through must be protected.

OSHA 29 CFR 1910.28(b)(3)(i)

“Each employee must be protected from falling through any hole (including skylights) that is 4 feet or more above a lower level by a cover or guardrail system.”

Even temporary cutouts or uncovered leveler pits during cleaning qualify under this standard.

Skylights Are NOT Safe to Stand On

They are considered holes in the walking-working surface per OSHA. If someone can fall through it, it must be protected.

Common Facility Risks:

  • Roof hatches left open during inspections
  • Floor holes cut during retrofits
  • Dock leveler service openings
  • Skylights mistaken for solid surfaces
  • Mezzanine transfer zones with no guarding
  1. Machinery Maintenance Areas

Elevated or awkward areas where technicians access equipment for inspection, service, or repair

When workers climb on top of equipment — like silos, presses, ovens, or production lines — they’re often exposed to fall risks without dedicated anchor points, guardrails, or designated access platforms.

OSHA 29 CFR 1910.23(c)

“Each employee on a walking-working surface with an unprotected side or edge that is 4 feet or more above a lower level must be protected by guardrail systems, safety nets, or personal fall protection systems.”

ANSI Z359.2 & Z359.18

  • Z359.2: Requires hazard assessments and formal procedures for elevated service tasks
  • Z359.18: Specifies structural anchorage design and use requirements for fall arrest systems around equipment and machinery

Common Maintenance Hazards:

  • Standing on top of industrial ovens, chillers, or presses
  • Climbing above ducting or piping for access
  • Walking on narrow steel beams or catwalks
  • Reaching across conveyor belts or hoppers

How FallProof Fixes the Blind Spots

Our team specializes in designing and installing turnkey fall protection systems for the areas most often missed:

 

 

For Openings:

  • Skylight safety screens (non-penetrating options available)
  • Hatch rail systems with self-closing gates
  • Custom floor hole covers that meet load rating standards

For Maintenance Access:

  • Overhead rigid tracks for SRL systems
  • Custom platforms with guardrails for safe access
  • Permanent or portable anchor points for fall arrest
  • Field assessments to pinpoint blind spots before they become incidents

📅 Schedule a facility walkthrough »

📞 Or speak directly with our safety engineering team at (609)-325-5555

Final Word

Openings and elevated maintenance zones don’t always get flagged as fall hazards — but they should.

They’re the places where workers take shortcuts, and where one slip can become a catastrophe.

Let’s make sure your facility isn’t one hazard away from a headline.

Fall Protection for HVAC Chillers

March 20, 2017, 4:41 pm | by Ray Nardo

Fall hazards for industrial HVAC systemsIndustrial size HVAC chillers present multiple fall protection hazards. When located on a rooftop near an unprotected edge, simply approaching the chiller may expose your worker to the risk of falling. Roof edge guardrail, horizontal lifelines, and fixed anchor points can all be designed to protect your workers as they approach and service the lower areas of the equipment. However, from a hazard analysis standpoint, access to the fans from the top of the housing is probably the area with the greatest risk of falling. Read more.

FallProof Systems Welcomes Scott Daly As A Senior Technical Sales Specialist

April 20, 2016, 3:32 pm | by Ray Nardo

Demonstration of proper use of horizontal cable lifelines.FallProof Systems LLC is pleased to announce that Scott Daly has joined the company as a Senior Technical Sales Specialist. Scott brings to FallProof 20 years of experience in every aspect of engineered fall protection systems, from the initial layout, design and engineering to installation and final system certification and training. Read more.

Fall Protection On New Construction: Our Wish List For Architects

November 17, 2015, 9:53 am | by Ray Nardo

Pre-Plan Fall Protection On New Construction During The Design Phase

Design Phase Fall Protection Planning On New ConstructionFor new construction projects, we are often asked to bid on procurement and installation of fall protection equipment. All too often, we find that it is treated as an afterthought, rather than an integral component of a well-designed building. We are alarmed whenever a contractor who has asked us to bid a project says, “They will add that later”, when we point out that the plans and specifications either say nothing about fall protection, or mention it without providing any scope, location or other layout information. Read more.

Fall Protection For Universities and Colleges: Hazards Abound

October 29, 2015, 12:43 pm | by Ray Nardo

Fall Protection For Universities and CollegesAt first glance, fall protection for universities and colleges is not something you would think there is much need for, but fall hazards abound nevertheless.  Take a critical look around any university or college campus, and you will often find numerous work areas where maintenance people, contractors, and even students might encounter dangerous hazards.  The following are some of the more common areas on college campuses that should not be overlooked: Read more.

Recent FallProof Projects – May 2015

May 11, 2015, 10:56 am | by Ray Nardo

Large Horizontal Perimeter Personnel Safety Net System

Safety Netting System for a Construction Job SiteFallProof recently partnered with a large general contractor to provide a personnel safety net system for a high rise construction project in Long Island City, NY. The building was intricately designed, with many levels and tiers, which created multiple attachment points for the safety netting outrigger poles. As a result, the safety netting needed to be installed in different configurations on different floors of the building.  Read more.

Steel Mill Fall Protection: Exploring Different Solutions

January 12, 2015, 12:33 pm | by Ray Nardo

Fall Protection Crane Rail Runway Steel MillFrom a facilities standpoint, you can apply all types of fall protection systems to the steel industry. Workers in steel mills are often required to use fall protection equipment, for personal safety and for OSHA regulation compliance.

The types of fall protection solutions installed in steel mills are usually based on several factors, including the layout and conditions of the environment, the number of personnel accessing a certain area, the frequency of activity in that area, and the budget concerns of the steel mill’s owners. Read more.

Aviation Fall Protection and Aircraft Hangars: What You Need To Know

December 15, 2014, 9:51 am | by Ray Nardo

Traveling overhead fixed-track personnel fall protection for work in the aviation industry and compliance with OSHA regulations.Aviation fall protection involves numerous scenarios in the aviation industry wherein different types of systems are necessary for personnel safety and compliance with OSHA regulations. Engineers, inspectors and maintenance workers are subject to fall hazards while on the roofs and wings of airplanes or helicopters in a manufacturing facility or aircraft hangar. Therefore, they need to use fall protection equipment that is dictated by several factors, including the type, model, and size of aircraft and the layout of the facility itself. The more common solutions include: Read more.

Debris Netting Fall Protection: When To Rent Versus When To Purchase

August 5, 2014, 12:30 pm | by Ray Nardo

Debris and Personnel Netting for Construction Job SitesWhen it comes to fall protection systems, safety netting provides some of the best protection for workers on high rise construction or demolition projects. Personnel cantilever systems can be installed around the exteriors of high rise buildings. The safety netting is hung from outrigger poles, which are attached around the perimeter of a certain floor, to catch workers if they fall. (This type of system can also be installed on the sides of bridges to ensure worker safety.) Read more.

Conveyor Belts: Netting Systems and Solutions

July 25, 2014, 8:00 am | by Ray Nardo

You might not think overhead conveyor belts would be a safety hazard. After all, a conveyor belt itself is not a work environment. Workers don’t stand on the conveyor while working, and don’t normally climb up to it unless it needs repair or maintenance. Even then, the apparatus is fully shut down as they service it, and no safety-conscious worker would ever service a system while it was still running. Read more.