46 CFR § 144.800 - Handrails and bulwarks.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t46/s144.800"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "46 CFR § 144.800 - Handrails and bulwarks."
title_number: 46
title_name: "Shipping"
section_number: "144.800"
section_name: "Handrails and bulwarks."
chapter_name: "COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY"
subchapter_number: "M"
subchapter_name: "TOWING VESSELS"
part_number: "144"
part_name: "CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "46 U.S.C. 3103, 3301, 3306, 3308, 3316, 8104, 8904; 33 CFR 1.05; DHS Delegation 00170.1, Revision No. 01.2."
regulatory_source: "USCG-2006-24412, 81 FR 40101, June 20, 2016, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "144"
---


# 144.800 Handrails and bulwarks.

(a) Rails or equivalent protection must be installed near the periphery of all decks accessible to crew. Equivalent protection may include lifelines, wire rope, chains, and bulwarks that provide strength and support equivalent to fixed rails.

(b) In areas where space limitations make deck rails impractical, such as at narrow catwalks in way of deckhouse sides, hand grabs may be substituted.