Skylight Covers

Yes. OSHA classifies a skylight as a hole in a walking-working surface. Under 29 CFR 1910.28(b)(3), any worker who could fall 4 feet or more through that hole must be protected by a cover over it, a guardrail around it, or a personal fall arrest system. A skylight that is not covered or guarded is an open OSHA violation on any roof workers access. Tritech engineers and installs load-rated skylight covers sized to the specific skylight and roof.

A roof hatch is an opening, and where it sits near skylights the two are usually protected together: the hatch is typically guarded with a fixed rail, and the nearby skylights are covered or guarded. For the covers specifically, the 29 CFR 1910.29(e) criteria are the test that applies to any cover placed over an opening in that landing zone: support at least twice the maximum intended load, secured against displacement, and marked.

In OSHA’s order of preference: elimination or substitution, passive prevention (covers and guardrails that need no worker action), fall restraint, and fall arrest. A load-rated skylight cover is passive prevention: it protects every worker who walks the roof without depending on training, and it ranks above the harness-and-anchor systems most people picture first.

In general industry, OSHA requires fall protection at 4 feet above a lower level (29 CFR 1910.28). In construction, the trigger is 6 feet (29 CFR 1926.501). For a skylight, the fall is through the dome to the floor below, so the governing height is the drop to that lower level, almost always far past either trigger on an industrial roof.