OSHA 1926.1431

OSHA 1926.1431 Explained: The Complete Rule for Hoisting Personnel by Crane16 min read

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OSHA 29 CFR 1926.1431 is the rule that governs hoisting personnel by crane on construction sites. It sits inside Subpart CC, the broader standard for cranes and derricks, and it applies any time one or more workers are lifted in a personnel platform rather than reaching a work area by ladder, scaffold, or aerial lift.

The rule runs nineteen subsections, lettered (a) through (s), and covers everything from platform design to wind limits to what happens when a crane needs to travel while someone is riding in the basket. Most articles on this topic pull a few highlights: proof testing, guardrails, maybe the wind rule. This one goes through the regulation in order, section by section, so you can see exactly what OSHA requires and where in the text it says so.

A note on citations: you may see 1926.1431 and 1926.1432 used interchangeably in some materials. They are not the same rule. 1926.1431 is titled “Hoisting personnel” and is the rule that applies to man baskets. 1926.1432 is titled “Multiple-crane/derrick lifts — supplemental requirements” and covers a separate topic: tandem lifts where more than one crane supports a single load. If a document cites 1926.1432 for personnel platform requirements, that citation is incorrect. We cover this mix-up in more detail near the end of this article.

What’s covered

What 1926.1431 applies to

The rule states plainly that its requirements are supplemental to the rest of Subpart CC and apply whenever one or more employees are hoisted. It does not stand alone. Every general crane requirement elsewhere in Subpart CC, ground conditions, signal person qualifications, wire rope inspection, and so on, still applies. 1926.1431 adds the additional layer of requirements that kick in specifically because a person, not a load, is in the air.

(a) When personnel hoisting is allowed

OSHA treats hoisting a worker by crane as a last resort, not a default method of access. Under 1926.1431(a), using a crane to hoist employees is prohibited unless the employer can show that building, using, and taking down conventional access, things like a personnel hoist, ladder, stairway, aerial lift, elevating work platform, or scaffold, would be more hazardous, or that conventional access simply isn’t possible given the structural design of the project or the conditions at the worksite.

Two carve-outs matter here. This paragraph doesn’t apply to work covered under Subpart R (Steel Erection), and it doesn’t apply to routine personnel access into an underground worksite through a shaft, which falls under 1926.800 (Underground Construction) instead.

(b) Using a personnel platform

When a crane hoists employees, 1926.1431(b)(1) requires those employees to be in a personnel platform that meets the design criteria in paragraph (e). A platform isn’t required, however, for four specific situations spelled out in (b)(2): hoisting into and out of drill shafts up to 8 feet in diameter, pile driving operations, transfer to or from a marine worksite using a marine-hoisted personnel transfer device, and storage-tank, shaft, or chimney operations. Each of those situations has its own dedicated subsection later in the rule (covered below under Special Applications).

(c) Equipment set-up

Before a personnel lift happens, the crane itself has to be set up correctly. 1926.1431(c) requires the equipment to be level within one percent of grade and positioned on footing that a qualified person has determined is firm and stable enough to support it. If the equipment uses outriggers or stabilizers, all of them have to be extended and locked, with the same amount of extension on each one, following the manufacturer’s procedures and load chart.

(d) Equipment criteria and capacity

This is one of the longer subsections, and it covers both load limits and the safety devices the crane itself needs.

Capacity. Whether the platform is suspended from the hook or attached to the boom, and whether or not a platform is used at all, 1926.1431(d)(1) through (d)(3) cap the total load at 50 percent of the equipment’s rated capacity for the radius and configuration in use, with the sole exception of proof testing. When the platform is holding still in a working position, (d)(4) requires the load and boom hoist brakes, swing brakes, and any secondary braking or locking features to be engaged.

Devices. Subsection (d)(5) lists the equipment that has to be present and functioning before personnel hoisting begins: a boom angle indicator and boom hoist limiting device on equipment with a variable-angle boom, an automatic overload protection device on articulating cranes, a jib angle indicator and jib hoist limiting device on equipment with a luffing jib, and a way to indicate a telescoping boom’s extended length. An anti-two-block device is required to prevent contact between the load block and the boom tip, with a narrow exception for pile driving operations covered separately in paragraph (p). A controlled load lowering system, separate from the load line hoist brake, is also required. If any of these devices stop working correctly during a lift, the operator has to stop safely, and the lift cannot resume until the device is fixed. There’s no workaround permitted here: the rule states outright that alternative measures are not permitted.

Finally, (d)(6) prohibits attaching a personnel platform directly to a luffing jib.

(e) Personnel platform design criteria

This is where the platform itself, not just the crane, has to meet specific engineering and construction standards.

  • Design. A qualified person familiar with structural design must design both the platform and its attachment or suspension system (e)(1).
  • Leveling. The connection system has to keep the platform within 10 degrees of level regardless of boom angle (e)(2), and the suspension system has to be designed to limit tipping caused by workers moving around inside it (e)(3).
  • Structural capacity. Excluding the guardrail system and fall-arrest anchorages, the platform itself has to support its own weight plus at least five times the maximum intended load, without failure (e)(4).
  • Welding. All welding on the platform and its components has to be done by a certified welder who is familiar with the specific weld grades, types, and materials called for in the design (e)(5).
  • Guardrails and enclosure. The platform needs a guardrail system meeting Subpart M, and it has to be enclosed from the toeboard to at least the mid-rail using solid material or expanded metal with openings no larger than ½ inch (e)(6). Any point where a fall arrest system attaches has to meet Subpart M’s anchorage requirements.
  • Grab rail. A grab rail is required around the platform’s entire interior perimeter, except at access gates or doors (e)(7).
  • Access gates and doors. Gates and doors can’t swing outward, with a narrow exception for single-person platforms where an inward swing isn’t feasible, and they have to be equipped with a device that prevents them from opening accidentally (e)(8).
  • Headroom. Employees need enough headroom to stand upright (e)(9).
  • Overhead protection. In addition to hard hats, workers need overhead protection when they’re exposed to falling objects, and that protection can’t block the operator’s or occupants’ view unless full protection is genuinely necessary (e)(10).
  • Edges. Any edge a worker could contact has to be smooth enough to avoid injury (e)(11).
  • Markings. The platform’s weight and rated capacity have to be posted on it, conspicuously, on a plate or other permanent marking (e)(12).

(f) Platform loading rules

The platform can’t be loaded beyond its rated capacity (f)(1). Platforms are for employees and the tools and materials they need for the work at hand, not for hoisting materials or tools separately when personnel aren’t being lifted (f)(2), with a narrow exception allowing secured, evenly distributed materials during trial lifts (f)(2)(ii), (f)(3). The number of people in the platform can’t exceed the platform’s design maximum or the number actually needed for the work, whichever is lower (f)(4).

(g) Attachment and rigging

The hardware connecting the platform to the hoist line has its own set of requirements. Hooks used anywhere in that connection, including on overhaul ball assemblies, lower load blocks, and bridle legs, have to be a type that closes and locks, eliminating the throat opening, and they have to actually be closed and locked when attached (g)(1)(i). Shackles used in place of hooks have to be the alloy anchor type, either with a bolt, nut, and retaining pin in place, or a screw-pin type with the pin secured against accidental removal (g)(1)(ii). Any other detachable device used in the connection has to close and lock to the same standard (g)(1)(iii).

Where a rope bridle suspends the platform, each leg has to connect to a master link or shackle in a way that evenly divides the load across the legs (g)(2). Rigging hardware and hooks have to support, without failure, at least five times the maximum intended load, and where rotation-resistant rope is used, that jumps to ten times the maximum intended load (g)(3). Wire rope sling eyes have to be fabricated with thimbles (g)(4). And the bridle and rigging used to suspend the platform can only be used for that platform and its occupants’ tools and materials; the same rigging can’t have done other work (g)(5).

(h) Trial lift and inspection

Before anyone rides in the platform, an unoccupied trial lift, loaded to at least the anticipated lift weight, has to be run from ground level (or wherever workers will board) to every location the platform will be hoisted to and positioned at (h)(1). This has to happen immediately before each shift involving personnel hoisting, and it has to be repeated any time the equipment is moved and set up somewhere new, or the lift route changes in a way that could introduce new safety factors (h)(2).

During the trial lift, a competent person has to confirm the required safety devices are activated and working, that nothing is interfering with the equipment or platform, that the lift won’t exceed 50 percent of rated capacity, and that the load radius has been accurately determined (h)(3). Immediately afterward, that same competent person visually inspects the equipment, ground or base support, and platform for any defect the trial lift may have exposed, and confirms the test weight has been removed (h)(4).

Immediately before each actual lift, the platform has to be raised a few inches with personnel and materials aboard and inspected for balance and security (h)(5)(i). The competent person also confirms hoist ropes are free of deficiencies, multiple part lines aren’t twisted around each other, the primary attachment is centered over the platform, and if the load rope looks slack, that all ropes are properly seated (h)(5)(ii). Anything found during the trial lift or these inspections that doesn’t meet the standard has to be corrected before hoisting personnel (h)(6).

(j) Proof testing at 125%

This is the requirement most people associate with 1926.1431, and it’s worth stating precisely. At each jobsite, before hoisting employees, and after any repair or modification, the platform and rigging have to be proof tested to 125 percent of the platform’s rated capacity (j)(1). This can happen at the same time as the trial lift. The platform is lowered by controlled load lowering, braked, and held suspended for at least five minutes with the test load evenly distributed (j)(2). Afterward, a competent person inspects the platform and rigging to confirm the test was passed; if deficiencies that create a safety hazard turn up, the platform can’t be used until they’re corrected, the test is repeated, and a competent person confirms it passed (j)(3). Personnel hoisting can’t begin until that determination is made (j)(4).

This is the requirement that a detachable Test Weight System is built to simplify. Our Test Weight System is included standard on every crane-suspended platform we build, and it’s the same system OSHA uses in its own training programs.

(k) Work practices, including the wind rule

This subsection covers how the lift is actually conducted, and it’s the longest section of the rule.

Hoisting has to be slow, controlled, and free of sudden movements (k)(1). Occupants have to keep their entire body inside the platform during raising, lowering, and horizontal movement, with an exception when someone has to position the platform or act as signal person (k)(2)(i). Standing or sitting on the rails or toeboard to gain height is prohibited, as is pulling the platform out of plumb relative to the crane (k)(2)(ii)–(iii). Before workers exit or enter a hoisted, unlanded platform, it has to be secured to the structure unless the employer can show that securing it would create a greater hazard (k)(3). If it’s tied to the structure, the operator can’t move it until confirming it’s freely suspended again (k)(4). Tag lines are required when needed to control the platform (k)(5).

Where the platform has no controls of its own, the equipment operator has to stay at the equipment controls, on site, and in view of the equipment the entire time the platform is occupied (k)(6). Where the platform does have controls, the person using them has to be a qualified person, the equipment operator still has to be present at a set of controls that include boom and swing functions, on site and in view, and the operating manual has to be in the platform or on the equipment (k)(7).

Environmental conditions. This is where the wind rule lives. Under (k)(8)(i), when sustained wind speed or gusts exceed 20 mph at the personnel platform, a qualified person has to determine whether it’s safe to lift personnel given those conditions. If it isn’t, the lift doesn’t start, or if it’s already underway, it stops. The same qualified-person judgment call applies to other dangerous weather or environmental conditions under (k)(8)(ii).

Workers being hoisted have to stay in direct communication with the signal person or operator (k)(9). Fall protection is required for everyone in the platform except when working over water, and it has to attach to a structural member within the platform, meeting the anchorage requirements in 1926.502 (k)(10). No other load lines can be used while personnel are being hoisted, except during pile driving operations, and factory-produced boom-mounted platforms with a built-in winch can hoist loads up to 500 lbs on that winch while occupied, provided it doesn’t exceed rated capacity (k)(11). Traveling while hoisting personnel is generally prohibited except for fixed-rail equipment or where the employer demonstrates no less hazardous alternative exists, and this exception never applies to rubber-tired equipment (k)(12). Derricks can’t travel at all while personnel are hoisted (k)(13).

(m) Pre-lift meeting

A pre-lift meeting is required to review the applicable requirements of the section and the procedures that will be followed. It has to include the equipment operator, the signal person if one is used, the employees being hoisted, and whoever is responsible for the task. This meeting happens before the trial lift at each new work location and has to be repeated for any employee newly assigned to the operation.

(n) Power line clearance

Hoisting personnel within 20 feet of a power line up to 350 kV is prohibited, and that clearance jumps to 50 feet for lines over 350 kV. The only exception is work covered under Subpart V (Power Transmission and Distribution).

(o)–(s) Special applications

The final subsections handle the situations flagged back in (b)(2), where a full personnel platform isn’t required. Each one specifies which paragraphs of the main rule still apply and substitutes “boatswain’s chair” or an equivalent term where the rule says “personnel platform.”

  • (o) Drill shafts. Hoisting into and out of drill shafts up to 8 feet in diameter, either in a personnel platform (full rule applies) or a boatswain’s chair (a defined subset of paragraphs applies, plus independent fall protection and a signal person stationed at the shaft opening).
  • (p) Pile driving. Similar structure, with added requirements for marking or spotting the cable to prevent two-blocking on both lattice boom and telescopic boom cranes.
  • (r) Marine transfer. Covers transferring workers to or from a marine worksite, either by personnel platform or a marine-hoisted personnel transfer device, with a requirement for Coast Guard-approved flotation devices.
  • (s) Storage tanks, shafts, and chimneys. Covers personnel hoisting in these environments, again with the option of a boatswain’s chair when a full platform is infeasible.

In every case, a full personnel platform means the complete rule applies. The boatswain’s chair alternative is a narrower, defined exception, not a general substitute.

1926.1431 vs. 1926.1432: Clearing up the citation mix-up

It’s worth stating this clearly because the two numbers get confused. 1926.1431 is titled “Hoisting personnel” and is the rule covered in this entire article. It’s the correct citation for any crane-suspended man basket, proof testing, platform design, or personnel hoisting question.

1926.1432 is a different rule entirely. It’s titled “Multiple-crane/derrick lifts — supplemental requirements,” and it governs a separate scenario: a lift plan for situations where more than one crane or derrick is supporting a single load at the same time. It has nothing to do with personnel platforms.

If you’ve seen these two numbers used interchangeably in a document, spec sheet, or article, the correct citation for personnel hoisting is 1926.1431.

FAQs

What does OSHA 1926.1431 require, at minimum, before a crane can lift personnel? A demonstrated need (conventional access isn’t feasible or is more hazardous), an engineered personnel platform meeting the design criteria in paragraph (e), a trial lift, proof testing at 125% of rated capacity, a pre-lift meeting, and continuous compliance with the work practices in paragraph (k), including the 20 mph wind threshold.

Is 1926.1431 the same as 1926.1432? No. 1926.1431 governs hoisting personnel. 1926.1432 governs multiple-crane lifts, where more than one crane supports the same load. They’re separate rules in the same subpart.

What’s the wind limit for hoisting personnel? When sustained wind or gusts exceed 20 mph at the platform, a qualified person has to determine whether it’s still safe to lift, under 1926.1431(k)(8)(i). If it isn’t, the lift doesn’t proceed.

How often does a platform need to be proof tested? At each jobsite before hoisting employees, and again after any repair or modification, per 1926.1431(j)(1). There’s no separate calendar-based re-test interval beyond those triggers.

Does 1926.1431 apply to forklift-mounted platforms? No. 1926.1431 sits inside Subpart CC, which covers cranes and derricks. Forklift-mounted personnel platforms fall under OSHA’s powered industrial truck standard instead. See our forklift man basket OSHA regulations page for that standard.

Does a personnel platform always have to be used for hoisting? Almost always, yes. 1926.1431(b)(2) lists four narrow exceptions, drill shafts up to 8 feet in diameter, pile driving, marine transfer, and storage tank/shaft/chimney work, where a boatswain’s chair can be used instead under a defined subset of the rule’s requirements.

Get a platform built to 1926.1431 from the start

Every crane-suspended man basket we build in Missoula, Montana ships with a detachable Test Weight System for 125% proof-load testing, an OSHA Certificate of Compliance, and full documentation, so the requirements in this article aren’t something you have to assemble after the fact.

Request a quote or talk to our team about a platform built to meet 1926.1431 from the ground up.