Regional Transit

Design Considerations

Mass transit maintenance operations and facilities routinely expose workers to fall hazards. When servicing buses, subway cars, and other transit equipment, workers are exposed to falls over open edges, working at heights, and maneuvering around obstructions.

Regional transit maintenance bays are often located in low-ceiling-height environments. As such, rigid beam fall protection systems and horizontal lifeline installations must be high enough to keep self-retracting lifelines from posing a safety hazard to workers.

Meanwhile, maintenance facilities with blast and spray booths may lack the structural integrity to support the loads associated with a fall arrest system; therefore, self-standing fall protection systems are considered a best practice.

Care must also be taken to consider tunnel and bridge clearances when designing and installing a permanent fall protection system on the roof of a bus or subway car.