Text from
the OSHA Logging Compliance Directive, CPL 2-1.22J.
Definitions and clarifications
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2. Paragraph (d) - General Requirements
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(3) Paragraph (d)(1)(v) - Cut-resistant foot protection.
Employers shall assure that foot protection worn by each employee who operates a chain
saw, including rubber, caulk-soled and other slip-resistant boots, is chain-saw
cut-resistant.
(a) Material is deemed to be "chain-saw cut-resistant" if it either provides
enough resistance to give the employee time to react before the chain saw cuts through the
boot material or jams the flywheel and chains, thereby causing the saw to stop.
(b) The chain-saw cut-resistant foot protection requirement applies to all employees
who operate a chain saw as a regular part of the employee's job as well as incidental to
the job. Based upon the hazards to employees when they use a chain saw, OSHA requires that
all employees who use a chain saw be protected against foot injury, regardless of the
frequency of chain saw usage.
(c) The foot protection requirement is expressed in performance terms. Nothing in the
final rule requires a specific type of construction of protective footwear, such as
steel-toed logging boots. Steel-toed boots meeting the foot protection requirements of
ANSI Z 41-1991, "American National Standard for Personal Protection-Protective
Footwear," provide adequate protection for the toe. However, if the logging boots do
not have material to protect the rest of the foot from the chain-saw cuts they do not
comply with the final rule. The final rule requires that logging boots for chain-saw
operators provide cut-resistant protection for the foot, not just the toe. Employees are
free to use foot protection constructed with other cut-resistant material to protect
against chain saw cuts.
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