# Excavations · 1926.501 Duty to have fall protection — OSHA fall protection trigger height by standard

For Excavations · 1926.501 Duty to have fall protection, hazard situation is Excavations; standard is 1926.501 Duty to have fall protection; trigger height is 6 feet (1.8 m) or more in depth; required protection once triggered is guardrail systems, fences, or barricades when the excavations are not readily seen because of plant growth or other visual barrier; subpart is Subpart M —Fall Protection, recorded from its source on 2026-08-25; source re-checked 2026-09-14.

- **Hazard situation:** Excavations _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Standard:** 1926.501 Duty to have fall protection _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Trigger height:** 6 feet (1.8 m) or more in depth _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Required protection once triggered:** guardrail systems, fences, or barricades when the excavations are not readily seen because of plant growth or other visual barrier _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Subpart:** Subpart M —Fall Protection _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **CFR paragraph:** 29 CFR 1926.501(b)(7) _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> (7) Excavations. (i) Each employee at the edge of an excavation 6 feet (1.8 m) or more in depth shall be protected from falling by guardrail systems, fences, or barricades when the excavations are not readily seen because of plant growth or other visual barrier; (ii) Each employee at the edge of a well, pit, shaft, and similar excavation 6 feet (1.8 m) or more in depth shall be protected from falling by guardrail systems, fences, barricades, or covers.

## Source

- https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-XVII/part-1926/subpart-M/section-1926.501

Last verified: 2026-09-14. Review by: 2027-08-25.
Part of [OSHA fall protection trigger height by standard](https://referencesource.org/osha-fall-protection-trigger-height-by-standard/).