Code of Federal Regulations Title 29. Labor § 29.1926.705—Lift-Slab Operations

(This appendix is non-mandatory.)

In paragraph 1926.705(k), OSHA requires employees to be removed from the building/structure during jacking operations unless an independent registered professional engineer, other than the engineer who designed and planned the lifting operation, has determined that the building/structure has been sufficiently reinforced to insure the integrity of the building/structure. One method to comply with this provision is for the employer to ensure that continuous bottom steel is provided in every slab and in both directions through every wall or column head area. (Column head area means the distance between lines that are one and one half times the thickness of the slab or drop panel. These lines are located outside opposite faces of the outer edges of the shearhead sections—See Figure 1). The amount of bottom steel shall be established by assuming loss of support at a given lifting jack and then determining the steel necessary to carry, by catenary action over the span between surrounding supports, the slab service dead load plus any service dead and live loads likely to be acting on the slab during jacking. In addition, the surrounding supports must be capable of resisting any additional load transferred to them as a result of the loss of support at the lifting jack considered.