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Toolbox talk · 10 min · Housekeeping & General

Material Storage and Stacking

Hazards: Struck by materials sliding or toppling off a stack · Crushed by a load tipping off a truck, forklift or rack · Fall from a worker climbing on top of stored material · Floor or formwork overloaded past its safe load limit · Trips and fire load from material stored in aisles and passageways

Why it matters

On September 30, 2020, a worker stood on two stacks of 2x6x10 lumber — under 6 feet, no fall protection required — to pull a tarp over the pile. He fell to the parking lot and died (OSHA Summary Nr 130082.015). Ten weeks earlier, a driver walked the side of his flatbed while a forklift lifted a CMU pallet off the far side; the near pallet, about 3,960 pounds, tipped onto him (Nr 127719.015). In 2023, half of all fatal struck-by injuries in construction came from a falling, propelled or suspended object (CPWR, 2025).

Key points

  • Every tier is secured, or it is not stacked. 1926.250(a)(1): stacked, racked, blocked, interlocked or otherwise secured against sliding, falling and collapse.
  • Know the four numbers. Brick 7 ft max, taper 2 in per foot above 4 ft. Block: half a block per tier above 6 ft. Lumber 20 ft, or 16 ft if handled by hand. Bags: cross-key every 10 bags.
  • Six feet off any opening, ten off a short wall. 1926.250(b)(1). The wall that does not reach the top of your pile is the one it goes over.
  • Nobody climbs the stack. Tarps, banding and counts get done from the ground, a ladder or a lift — not from on top of the pile.
  • Aisles clear, deck load posted. 1926.250(a)(3) and (a)(2): free movement for people and equipment, and the safe load limit posted in pounds per square foot in storage areas above grade.
  • Pull nails before you stack. 1926.250(b)(8)(i) and (c): nails out of used lumber, storage areas clear of what trips people or feeds a fire.

Do / Don't

Do

  • Set piles on level, solidly supported sills — not on mud, not on scrap.
  • Block or rack pipe, poles and bar stock at the bottom edge.
  • Segregate materials that should not sit together (1926.250(b)(3)).
  • Break a pile down from the top across the whole face, one layer at a time.

Don't

  • Pull material out of the middle or the bottom of a stack.
  • Walk beside a trailer or a rack while a load is being lifted off it.
  • Stack on a scaffold or runway beyond what the next hour needs.
  • Square off bagged goods in clean vertical columns.

Quick site check

  • Measure the tallest brick, block and lumber pile on site against the numbers above — write down what is over.
  • Stand at every floor opening and hoistway and step off 6 feet: what is inside that circle?
  • Find the posted floor load limit in each storage area above grade. If there is no sign, that is today's action item.
Discussion — ask the crew
  1. Walk to the biggest pile on this job: what is holding the top of it in place if somebody pulls a piece out of the middle?
  2. Where are we stacking within 6 feet of a floor opening or a hoistway right now?
  3. Who has climbed on a stack of lumber this week, and what were we trying to reach?
  4. Are the bagged goods stepped back and cross-keyed, or squared off like a brick wall?
  5. What load are we putting on this deck today, and does anybody here know what it is rated for?
Refs: 29 CFR 1926.250 — General requirements for storage: (a)(1) secured against sliding, falling or collapse; (a)(2) safe load limits and posting; (a)(3) aisles; (b)(1) 6 ft and 10 ft setbacks; (b)(4) bagged materials; (b)(6) brick; (b)(7) masonry block; (b)(8) lumber; (b)(9) cylindrical materials; (c) housekeeping · 29 CFR 1926.25 — Housekeeping: scrap with protruding nails and debris cleared from work areas, passageways and stairs · OSHA Accident Search — Summary Nr 130082.015, event date 09/30/2020: a worker on a multifamily project was standing on two stacks of 2x6x10 lumber, under 6 feet up, pulling a plastic cover over the pile; he fell to the parking lot and died of head trauma · OSHA Accident Search — Summary Nr 127719.015, event date 07/13/2020: a driver was walking the driver side of his flatbed as a forklift lifted a CMU pallet off the passenger side; the driver-side pallet, about 3,960 lb, tipped onto him and killed him · CPWR — The Construction Chart Book, 7th edition (2025), Chart 41c, from the BLS 2023 Census of Fatal Occupational InjuriesSign-in sheet included in the printed version

Frequently asked questions

1926.250(b)(6) sets two numbers: a brick stack shall not be more than 7 feet high, and once a loose brick stack reaches 4 feet it shall be tapered back 2 inches for every foot of height above the 4-foot level. So a 7-foot loose stack is 6 inches narrower at the top than it is at the 4-foot mark.

1926.250(b)(7) is a different rule with a different number: when masonry blocks are stacked higher than 6 feet, the stack shall be tapered back one-half block per tier above the 6-foot level. Nothing in the paragraph caps block height the way (b)(6) caps brick at 7 feet.

1926.250(b)(8)(iv) allows lumber piles up to 20 feet, but lumber that will be handled manually shall not be stacked more than 16 feet high. The same paragraph adds three conditions that matter more than the height: used lumber shall have all nails withdrawn before stacking, the pile sits on level and solidly supported sills, and it has to be stable and self-supporting.

1926.250(b)(1) gives two setbacks for material stored inside a building under construction: not within 6 feet of any hoistway or inside floor opening, and not within 10 feet of an exterior wall that does not extend above the top of the material stored. The second one is the wall that stops at your knees while the pile is over your head.

1926.250(a)(2)(ii) requires employers to conspicuously post maximum safe load limits of floors in pounds per square foot in all storage areas, except when the storage area is a floor or slab on grade. A 2019 amendment added a second exception: posting is not required in single-family residential structures or wood-framed multi-family residential structures. Everywhere else, if you store on a deck, the limit gets posted.

1926.250(b)(4) requires bagged materials to be stacked by stepping back the layers and cross-keying the bags at least every 10 bags high. Stepping back means each layer sits inside the one below; cross-keying means turning a layer 90 degrees so the bags tie the stack together instead of stacking in clean columns that shear off in one sheet.

1926.250(b)(9) names structural steel, poles, pipe, bar stock and other cylindrical materials: unless they are racked, they shall be stacked and blocked so as to prevent spreading or tilting. Blocking is the chock at the bottom of the pile. A round pile with nothing at the bottom edge is a pile waiting for one piece to move.

1926.250(b)(5) says materials shall not be stored on scaffolds or runways in excess of supplies needed for immediate operations. A scaffold is a work platform with a rated capacity, not a lay-down yard, and 1926.451(f)(1) prohibits loading a scaffold beyond its maximum intended load or rated capacity, whichever is less.

Sources & references

Content checked against these sources — last reviewed August 28, 2026.

Results are estimates for planning purposes and do not replace a competent person's evaluation or an engineer's design. Follow the OSHA standards that apply to your work and your employer's written program.

By — Editorial team of SteelToeTools.com (published by LSEA SAS) Updated