The Short Answer
In Michigan, roofing employers must protect workers 6 feet or more above a lower level. MIOSHA Construction Safety Standard Part 45 adopts the federal rules: on a house or steep roof that means guardrails, safety nets or personal fall arrest (harness, lanyard, anchor). Since January 2020, MIOSHA presumes those systems are feasible on homes. Low-slope roofs allow warning lines and safety monitors. The duty falls on the employer, not the homeowner.
Key Points
- MIOSHA Part 45 adopts the federal fall protection rules, 29 CFR 1926.500 to 1926.503, by reference.
- On a house, the trigger is 6 feet above a lower level, and harnesses, guardrails or nets are the expected answer.
- Since a January 2020 enforcement change, slide guards or a safety monitor alone no longer satisfy MIOSHA on residential work without a written, site-specific plan.
- Michigan's ladder rule requires side rails to extend at least 3 feet above the roof edge, and metal ladders must stay well clear of power lines.
- MIOSHA duties fall on employers; your practical protection as a homeowner is hiring a licensed, insured company.
Michigan Runs Its Own Safety Program, and Part 45 Is the Fall Rule
Michigan is one of the states that operates its own occupational safety and health program, the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA), under the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1974. For construction work, the fall protection rule is Construction Safety Standard Part 45, Fall Protection, Michigan Administrative Code R 408.44501 and R 408.44502.
Part 45 is short because R 408.44502 adopts the federal rules in 29 CFR 1926.500 through 1926.503 by reference: scope and definitions, when fall protection is required, how each system must be built and used, and training. Michigan carves a few topics out into its own standards; scaffolds go to Part 12 and ladders to Part 11.
Two definitions from 1926.500 shape everything on a roof: a low-slope roof has a slope of 4 in 12 or less, and a steep roof is anything steeper. Most houses are steep roofs by that definition; most commercial buildings and many porches are low-slope.
The Six-Foot Trigger and What Counts as Protection
The federal rule Michigan adopted ties fall protection to height. Under 1926.501(b)(13), each employee engaged in residential construction 6 feet or more above a lower level must be protected by a guardrail system, a safety net system or a personal fall arrest system, unless another part of the rule allows something else. Steep roofs have their own line, 1926.501(b)(11), which requires guardrails with toeboards, safety nets or personal fall arrest for anyone on a steep roof with unprotected sides and edges 6 feet or more above a lower level.
On a house, the realistic option is usually personal fall arrest: harnesses tied to roof anchors. Here is each system as the rule defines it.
Personal fall arrest system
1926.500, 1926.502(d)
An anchorage, connectors and a full body harness, which may include a lanyard, deceleration device or lifeline. Body belts have been banned for fall arrest since January 1, 1998. Anchorages must be able to support at least 5,000 pounds per attached employee, and the system must be rigged so a worker can neither free fall more than 6 feet nor contact any lower level.
Fall restraint
MIOSHA policy
A harness connected to an anchor by a lanyard short enough that the worker physically cannot reach the edge. MIOSHA's residential fact sheet accepts an effective restraint system in place of fall arrest.
Guardrail system
1926.502(b)
A barrier with a top rail 42 inches, plus or minus 3 inches, above the walking surface. On steep roofs the rule requires toeboards as well. More common on commercial roof edges than on houses.
Safety net system
1926.502(c)
Nets installed below the work. Rare on residential roofing, but allowed by the rule.
What Changed for Residential Roofing in January 2020
For years, Michigan residential crews worked under a 2004 MIOSHA instruction that let employers doing certain residential work use alternatives such as slide guards (boards nailed along the roof) or a safety monitor watching the crew, without proving that harnesses or guardrails were impractical. On January 22, 2020, MIOSHA's Construction Safety and Health Division issued a revised instruction, CSHD-COM-04-1, Residential Fall Protection Compliance Criteria, and its current fact sheet is blunt about the old approach: "This is no longer acceptable."
The rule now runs the other way. MIOSHA presumes that conventional fall protection is feasible on residential construction and will not create a greater hazard. An employer that believes it is infeasible, meaning impossible to do the work with it or technologically impossible to use, must have a qualified person write a site-specific fall protection plan under 1926.502(k) explaining why, and keep it at the job. A plan written for repeated use on a particular model or style of home counts as site-specific. MIOSHA limits these plans to residential construction: homes built with traditional wood-frame materials and methods.
The takeaway: on an ordinary pitched house roof, a crew working near the edge with no harnesses, no anchors and no written plan is not following Michigan's current enforcement policy.
Flat and Low-Slope Roofs Have Different Options
Low-slope roofs are the one place the rule allows systems that do not physically stop a fall. Under 1926.501(b)(10), each employee doing roofing work on a low-slope roof with unprotected edges 6 feet or more above a lower level must be protected by guardrails, safety nets or personal fall arrest, or by a combination of a warning line system with one of those or with a safety monitoring system. On roofs 50 feet or less wide, a safety monitoring system alone is allowed.
A warning line is a rope, wire or chain barrier with flags that marks off the area where roofing work may take place. Under 1926.502(f) it must be set at least 6 feet back from the roof edge, and at least 10 feet back from an edge perpendicular to the direction mechanical equipment is operated. Workers inside the line can work without harnesses; anyone working between the line and the edge needs other protection.
A safety monitor is a competent person whose job is to watch for fall hazards and warn workers. Under 1926.502(h), the monitor must be on the same roof surface, within sight and speaking distance of the workers, and must have no other duties that pull attention away.
Commercial roofs add one more hazard: skylights. Under 1926.501(b)(4)(i), employees must be protected from falling through holes, including skylights, more than 6 feet above a lower level, by fall arrest, covers or guardrails around the opening.
Michigan's Ladder Rules Are Separate, and Stricter in Places
Part 45 sends ladders to Michigan's own Construction Safety Standard Part 11, Fixed and Portable Ladders, and Part 11 is not a copy of the federal rule. A few of its requirements are worth knowing because you can check them from your driveway.
- Height above the roof: where a portable ladder is used to reach a roof, R 408.41124(5) requires the side rails to extend at least 3 feet above the upper landing surface; if that is not possible, the top must be secured to a rigid support that won't deflect.
- Angle: the base should sit about one quarter of the ladder's working length out from the wall, the familiar 4 to 1 setup.
- Secured: the ladder must be tied, blocked or otherwise secured against displacement, and fitted with appropriate safety feet; Part 11 says slip-resistant feet are not a substitute for care in placing or lashing it.
- Power lines: under R 408.41124(7), a metal ladder must not be used or moved unless at least 20 feet is maintained from power transmission or distribution lines. That is a Michigan-specific number worth remembering where the service drop runs over the eave.
- Climbing: R 408.41122(4) requires workers to face the ladder, use at least one hand to grasp it, and not carry anything that could cause a loss of balance. Material should go up by hoist or rope, not under an arm.
What You Should See When a Crew Arrives
You shouldn't climb up to check on a crew, but a few things are visible from the ground. On a steep house roof, you would expect to see anchors going in near the ridge before anyone works the lower courses, harnesses on the people on the roof, and ropes or lifelines connected to them. On a low-slope roof, look for a flagged warning line set back from the edge or a guardrail system, and a designated monitor if that is the method.
Two other Michigan requirements live on paper. MIOSHA's general construction rule, R 408.40114, requires every construction employer to develop and maintain an accident prevention program and keep a copy available at the worksite. And 1926.503 requires employers to train every worker who might be exposed to fall hazards, delivered by a competent person, with a written certification record showing who was trained, when, and who signed it. A foreman who can't say what the fall protection plan is on your job is telling you something.
- Step 1
Ask Before the Job
When you sign, ask how the crew handles fall protection on your roof's pitch and height. A licensed company will have a direct answer.
- Step 2
Ask for Certificates
Request current certificates of workers' compensation and general liability insurance, issued by the agent, not a photocopy from a truck.
- Step 3
Clear the Ground
Keep people, pets and cars out from under the eaves while work is overhead.
- Step 4
Point Out Hazards
Tell the crew about overhead power lines, skylights, rotten areas you know of, or a soft deck you've noticed from the attic.
- Step 5
Speak Up Early
If you see people working near the edge with no protection, raise it with the company's office the same day. It is your house and your risk too.
MIOSHA Penalties and How Complaints Work
The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Act sets the penalties. Under MCL 408.1035, a serious violation carries a civil penalty of up to $7,000 per violation, as can an other-than-serious one. A willful or repeated violation can bring up to $70,000 per violation, with a $5,000 minimum for willful violations. Failing to correct a cited violation can cost up to $7,000 for each day it continues. A willful violation that causes an employee's death is a felony punishable by up to one year in prison, a $10,000 fine or both, rising for repeat offenses. Those are maximums, not typical amounts.
MIOSHA's complaint process is built for employees and their representatives, with two details that matter on a roof. Its Construction Safety and Health Division may accept construction complaints by telephone because construction work is temporary, and anyone facing an emergency or an immediately life-threatening hazard is told to call MIOSHA at 800-866-4674.
MIOSHA itself treats falls as a priority. Its fall prevention page reports that of 36 Michigan fall-related workplace deaths it counted from 2019 to 2022, 17 were in construction, with roofer, construction laborer and carpenter the highest-risk jobs. Nationally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 844 fatal falls, slips and trips at work in 2024, 370 of them among construction and extraction workers.
Who Is Responsible if a Roofer Falls at Your House
MIOSHA's duties belong to employers. The act defines an employer as an individual or organization that employs one or more persons, so the roofing company is the one bound by Part 45 for its crew, not the homeowner. The flip side: a person working alone, with no employees, falls outside those employer duties entirely.
Workers' compensation is the second layer. Michigan's Workers' Disability Compensation Act covers private employers who regularly employ three or more people, or fewer if at least one has worked 35 or more hours a week for 13 weeks or longer in the preceding 52 weeks (MCL 418.115). Its contractor section, MCL 418.171, says that when an employer subject to the act contracts work to a contractor who has not secured workers' compensation, that principal can be liable to pay compensation to the contractor's injured workers, with a right to recover from the contractor. On its face it reaches principals that are themselves employers subject to the act. Whether a particular homeowner, landlord or business owner could be reached, and what other claims might follow an injury on your property, depends on facts this page can't weigh.
What you can control is who you hire. A licensed roofing company with its own workers' compensation and general liability coverage keeps an injured worker's claim where it belongs. Ask your homeowners insurance agent how your own policy treats injuries to contractors on your property, and verify the roofer's coverage before anyone sets a ladder. This page describes the law in general terms and is not legal advice; for your situation, talk with an attorney or your insurance agent.
Verify the license first
How to look up a Michigan residential builder or maintenance and alteration license on LARA, and what the record does and does not prove.
License lookup guideIf you were thinking of doing it yourself
What is safe from the ground and the attic, how to set a ladder, and the conditions that rule out going on the roof at all.
DIY safety guideInspections, Estimates and the Rule's Edges
One limit in Part 45 explains why an estimator may walk your roof without the setup a repair crew uses. R 408.44501(2), mirroring the exception in 1926.500(a)(1), says the fall protection rules do not apply when an employee is making an inspection, investigation or assessment of workplace conditions before construction work actually starts or after all of it is finished. That exception covers looking, not working. Once anyone starts replacing shingles, sealing flashing or tearing off material, the full rule applies.
The exception does not make an inspection safe. On steep, wet or frosted roofs, a careful inspector still works from the attic, a ladder-top view or binoculars, and in a Michigan November, frost can keep a roof slick long after the air feels warm.
What Michigan's Fall Protection Rules Allow by Roof Type
| Situation | Rule | What satisfies it |
|---|---|---|
| House roof, any work 6 ft or more above a lower level | 1926.501(b)(13) via Part 45 | Guardrails, safety nets or personal fall arrest; a written site-specific plan only if those are shown infeasible |
| Steep roof (over 4 in 12) | 1926.501(b)(11) | Guardrails with toeboards, safety nets or personal fall arrest |
| Low-slope roof (4 in 12 or less), roofing work | 1926.501(b)(10) | Guardrails, nets or fall arrest; or a warning line combined with one of those or a safety monitor |
| Low-slope roof 50 ft wide or less | 1926.501(b)(10) | A safety monitoring system alone is also allowed |
| Skylights and roof openings | 1926.501(b)(4)(i) | Fall arrest, covers or guardrails around the opening |
| Portable ladder to the roof | Part 11, R 408.41124 | Rails 3 ft above the roof edge or top secured; metal ladders 20 ft from power lines |
| Inspection before or after construction work | R 408.44501(2) | Part 45 does not apply; the work itself does |
Summary of MIOSHA Part 45 and the federal sections it adopts, plus MIOSHA Part 11. The employer, not the homeowner, is responsible for compliance.
Hire a Crew That Brings Its Own Safety Plan
Stellar Roofing Company is a Michigan Licensed Residential Builder (#262000779) and carries workers' compensation and general liability insurance. Ask us for certificates before we start.
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Learn MoreQuestions We Hear
Do roofers have to wear harnesses in Michigan?
On most house roofs, effectively yes. MIOSHA Part 45 requires workers 6 feet or more above a lower level to be protected by guardrails, safety nets or personal fall arrest, and harnesses tied to anchors are the practical choice on a pitched roof. Since 2020, MIOSHA presumes these systems are feasible on homes. An employer claiming otherwise needs a written, site-specific plan prepared by a qualified person.
Can a roofing crew use slide guards instead of harnesses?
Not on their own for residential work in Michigan anymore. A 2004 MIOSHA instruction allowed slide guards or a safety monitor without proving conventional protection was infeasible, but the January 2020 revision ended that. Slide guards can still be part of a written fall protection plan where an employer documents why harnesses, guardrails or nets are infeasible or create a greater hazard.
Am I liable if a roofer gets hurt on my roof in Michigan?
It depends on the facts. MIOSHA's duties fall on the roofer's employer, and Michigan's workers' compensation law makes the contractor's insurance the primary route for an injured worker. A principal that hires an uninsured contractor can sometimes be pulled in under MCL 418.171. Verify the roofer's workers' compensation and liability certificates, ask your insurance agent about your policy, and consult an attorney about specific situations.
Who do I call if I see roofers working without fall protection?
Start with the roofing company's office if they are working on your house. For an immediately life-threatening hazard, MIOSHA tells the public to call 800-866-4674. MIOSHA's construction division may take construction complaints by phone because the work is temporary, though its formal complaint process is designed for employees and their representatives.
Does MIOSHA apply to a one-person roofing business?
MIOSHA's duties apply to employers, and the act defines an employer as one that employs one or more persons. Someone working entirely alone has no employees to protect under the act, so Part 45 doesn't bind them the way it binds a company with a crew. That is not a reason to assume they work safely; it is a reason to ask about insurance before hiring.
What This Page Cites
- Construction Safety Standard Part 45, Fall Protection, R 408.44501 and R 408.44502, Michigan Administrative Code via LARA (https://gsaindexed.apps.lara.state.mi.us/ORR/107_45_AdminCode.pdf), accessed October 2026
- Residential Fall Protection, MIOSHA Construction Safety and Health Division Fact Sheet #030, revised 9/11/2023 (https://www.michigan.gov/documents/dleg/deleg_wsh_constfact_residential_fall_protection_349397_7.pdf), accessed October 2026
- 29 CFR 1926.500, 1926.501, 1926.502 and 1926.503 (Subpart M, Fall Protection), OSHA (https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1926/1926.501), accessed October 2026
- Construction Safety Standard Part 11, Fixed and Portable Ladders, R 408.41122 and R 408.41124, Michigan Administrative Code via Legal Information Institute (https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/michigan/Mich-Admin-Code-R-408-41124), accessed October 2026
- Construction Safety Standard Part 1, General Rules, R 408.40114, Employer responsibilities; accident prevention program, Michigan Administrative Code via Legal Information Institute (https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/michigan/Mich-Admin-Code-R-408-40114), accessed October 2026
- Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Act, MCL 408.1005 (definitions) and MCL 408.1035 (penalties), Michigan Legislature (https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-408-1035), accessed October 2026
- Worker's Disability Compensation Act, MCL 418.115 (employers subject to act) and MCL 418.171 (contractors), Michigan Legislature (https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-418-171), accessed October 2026
- Fall Prevention, MIOSHA, Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (https://www.michigan.gov/leo/bureaus-agencies/miosha/topics/fall-prevention), accessed October 2026
- File a Safety or Health Hazard Complaint with MIOSHA, Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (https://www.michigan.gov/MIOSHAComplaint), accessed October 2026
- National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2024 (news release, February 19, 2026), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/cfoi_02192026.pdf), accessed October 2026