At what height above a lower level does California require fall protection for employees in the construction industry?

Explanation

Section 1670(a) requires an approved personal fall arrest, fall restraint or positioning system where the work exposes an employee to falling IN EXCESS OF 7 1/2 feet from the perimeter of a structure, unprotected sides and edges, leading edges, shaftways and openings. The other three are real triggers borrowed from rules that sit beside this one, which is why they are so easy to pick. Six feet is the federal general construction figure in 29 CFR 1926.501 and, in California, the residential-type framing figure in section 1716.2(e)(1). Ten feet is the federal supported scaffold trigger. Fifteen feet is the steel erection trigger. Roofing is governed by none of them: section 1670(a) routes roofing operations to section 1730, which on a low-slope roof triggers above 20 feet.