WAC 296-78-790   Crane platforms and footwalks.  (1) Platforms shall be provided when changing and repairing truck wheels on end trucks.

     (2) A platform or footwalk shall be located on crane or crane runway to give access to the crane cage, and it shall be accessible from one or more stairways or fixed ladders. This platform or footwalk shall be not less than eighteen inches in width.

     (3) Where stairways are used to give access to platforms they shall make an angle of not more than fifty degrees with the horizontal and shall be equipped with substantial railing. If ladders are used to give access to platforms they shall extend not less than thirty-six inches above the platform. Railed stairways or ladders to be used as a means of ingress and egress to crane cages shall be located at either or both ends.

     (4) A footwalk shall be placed along the entire length of the bridge on the motor side, and a short platform twice the length of the trolley placed at one end of the girder on the opposite side, with a vertical clearance of a least six feet six inches where the design of crane or building permits, but in no case shall there be less than four feet clearance. For hand operated cranes the footwalk shall not be required to be installed on the bridge of the crane, but there shall be a repair platform equal in strength and design to that required for motor operated cranes, installed on the wall of the building or supported by the crane runway at a height equal to the lower edge of the bridge girder to facilitate necessary repairs.

     (5) Clear width of footwalks shall not be less than eighteen inches except around the bridge motor where it may be reduced to fifteen inches.

     (6) Footwalks shall be of substantial construction and rigidly braced. Footwalks for outside service shall be constructed so as to provide proper drainage, but the cracks between the boards shall not be wider than one-fourth inch.

     (7) Every footwalk shall have a standard railing and toeboard at all exposed edges. Railings and toeboards shall conform in construction and design with the following requirements:

     (a) Railings shall be not less than thirty-six inches nor more than forty-two inches in height, with an additional rail midway between the top rail and the floor.

     (b) Pipe railings shall be not less than one and one-fourth inch inside diameter if of iron or be not less than one and one-half inches outside diameter if of brass tubing.

     (c) Metal rails other than pipe shall be at least equal in strength to that of one and one-half by three-sixteenths inch angle and shall be supported by uprights of equal strength.

     (d) Posts or uprights shall be spaced not more than eight feet center to center.

     (e) Toeboards shall be not less than four inches in height.

     (f) Toeboards shall be constructed in a permanent and substantial manner of metal, wood, or other material equivalent thereto in strength. Where of wood, toeboards shall be at least equal in cross section to one inch by four inches; where of steel at least one-eighth inch by four inches; where of other construction at least equal to the requirements for steel. Perforations up to one-half inch are permissible in metal toeboards.

     (8) No openings shall be permitted between the bridge footwalk and the crane girders. Where wire mesh is used to fill this opening the mesh openings shall be not greater than one-half inch.

     (9) All footwalks and platforms shall be so designed as to be capable of sustaining a concentrated load of one hundred pounds per lineal foot.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.040, 49.17.050 and 49.17.240. 81-18-029 (Order 81-21), § 296-78-790, filed 8/27/81.]