OSHA moves to kill ladder safety deadline over billion-dollar costs

The numbers they presented were striking. One company reportedly spent $1.2 million simply to identify which of its ladders were affected. Another estimated it would spend $5 million to do the same. Across the surveyed member companies, the total compliance price tag came to more than $1.2 billion for roughly 22,000 ladders. The petitioners noted their survey covered just over a third of U.S. petroleum refineries and a tiny fraction of other chemical manufacturing facilities. Scaled to the full refining industry, they estimated costs could exceed $3 billion. 

Those figures dwarf what OSHA projected nearly a decade ago. In its 2016 analysis, the agency estimated that equipping fixed ladders between 24 and 30 feet in height with ladder safety and personal fall arrest systems would total $8.5 million in multi-year aggregated costs for approximately 109,200 affected ladders – an estimate the agency is now reconsidering after industry concerns drew its underlying assumptions into question. If OSHA underestimated the useful life of affected ladders, a larger percentage of employers would need to retrofit existing ladders to meet the 2036 deadline rather than replacing them through normal business cycles, pushing costs significantly higher than originally projected. 

For HR and safety professionals, the most important detail may be what the proposed rule does not change. The requirement that any new fixed ladder installed on or after November 19, 2018 must include a personal fall arrest system or ladder safety system stays in place. So does the requirement that when any section of a fixed ladder, cage, or well is replaced, a personal fall arrest system or ladder safety system must be installed in at least that replaced section. And critically, employer obligations around worker training on fall hazards remain fully intact. OSHA has indicated it expects ongoing training to remain a key safeguard even if the compliance deadline is removed. 

The proposal also opens a broader question. OSHA is seeking public comment on whether the agency should go further and remove the requirement that employers use personal fall arrest systems on all fixed ladders over 24 feet entirely, instead permitting employers to continue using cages or wells. The agency is seeking evidence on whether cages and wells provide equivalent safety outcomes compared to personal fall arrest systems or ladder safety systems across relevant industries and ladder configurations. 

The proposed rule, prepared under the direction of Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health David Keeling, has been classified as a significant regulatory action. OSHA framed the proposal as consistent with the current administration’s deregulatory agenda, citing executive orders aimed at reducing private expenditures required to comply with federal regulations.