OSHA Inspection: EMERY AIR FREIGHT CORPORATION

Issued

Jul 19, 2000

Abate by

Sep 5, 2000

Penalty

Initial $5,000 · Current $2,000 Reduced

Issued

Jul 19, 2000

Abate by

Sep 5, 2000

Penalty

Initial $5,000 · Current $2,000 Reduced

Issued

Jul 19, 2000

Abate by

Sep 5, 2000

Penalty

Initial $70,000 · Current $7,000 Reduced

General-duty citation text

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970:  The
employer did not
furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from
recognized hazards that
were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to
employees in that employees
were exposed to slips and falls up to 16' from beltloaders and K-loaders,
that were used for
access and egress from planes without guardrails in position and/or fall
protection in use, in that:
(a)Employees standing on the fold-down front platform flaps located on the
bridge of K-
Loaders facing the plane were exposed to falls in excess of 10' to ground
level when the wings
collapses, and the K-Loaders were positioned 3" to 12" away from the
planes.
(b)Employees standing on the end of the belt loaders while the belt
loaders were being
raised and lowered to open and/or close belly doors were not protected
from slipping and falling
through the openings between the belt loaders and the planes.
(c)On or about April 27, 2000, employees unloading cargo from Aircraft
N3203Y onto K-
Loader 870-0021, were exposed to 15' fall due to the 12" step across gap.
(d)On February 23, 2000, employees located on east-54 were crawling up and
down belt
loader 862-0116 elevated to 72" above ground to the belly of the DC-8
without standard
guardrail protection on all open sides of the belt loader.
(e)On February 23, 2000, employees located on east-54 were crawling up and
down belt
loader 862-7011 elevated 67" above ground to the belly of the DC-8 without
standard guardrail
protection on all open sides of the belt loader.
(f)On February 23, 2000, employees located on east-54 were crawling up and
down belt
loader 862-6010 elevated 5' above ground to the belly of the DC-8 without
standard guardrail
protection on all open sides of the belt loader.
(g)On February 23, 2000, employees located on east-54, were riding the
elevator platform
down, on K-loader 870-7002, at heights in excess of 4' above ground level
without standard
guardrail protection on all open sides of the elevator's platform.
(h )On February 23, 2000, employees riding up the elevator platform,
opened on all sides
on K-loader, 870-8003, were being elevated to 13' above ground without
standard guardrail
protection on all open sides of the elevator's platform.
(i)On February 23, 2000, employees located on east-28, were crawling up
belt loader 862-
0117 elevated to 59" from ground level to without standard guardrail
protection on all open sides
of the belt loader.
(j)On April 27, 2000, an employee located on north-2, was walking on belt
loader elevated
to 80" from ground level without standard guardrail protection on all open
sides of the belt
loader.
(k)On April 27, 2000, the standard guardrail on the left side of K-loader
unloading the DC-
8, #N870TV, located on west-41, did not extend to protect employees from a
15' fall hazard due
to a 25" opening between the rail and the left side of the plane.
(l)On April 27, 2000, employees located on west-58, removing freight from
K-Loader
#870-0021, 15' from ground level were not protected by guardrails that
extended to the end of
the K-loader.
(m)On April 27, 2000,  employees located on west-58 walking down belt
loader 862-6015,
elevated 4' from ground level without standard guardrail protection on all
open sides of the belt
loader.
(n)On April 27, 2000, employees were exposed to a 15' fall hazard, while
loading freight
from K-Loader 870-7004 to Aircraft C-G1CD, without having a standard
guardrail in place.
(o)On April 27, 2000, employees were exposed to a 5 foot 2 inch fall,
while loading cargo
from Belt Loader 862-7006 to Aircraft N801GP, without having a standard
guardrail in place.
(p)On April 27, 2000, employees were exposed to a 6 foot 10 inch fall,
while loading cargo
from Belt Loader 862-7008 to Aircraft N809IU, without having a standard
guardrail in place.
(q)On April 28, 2000, an employee was exposed to a 7 foot 7 inch fall,
while loading cargo
from a belt loader to Aircraft N605-124, without having a standard
guardrail in place.
(r)On May 4, 2000, employees were exposed to a 4 foot 11 inch fall, while
entering and
exiting the cargo hatch on Aircraft N7642U, without having a standard
guardrail in place.
(s)At the East End Conveyor where Huts were manually unloaded onto a
conveyor,
employees were exposed to the hazard of stepping into 4-8" floor openings
of
the European style
dolly as the Hut could not be positioned against the dolly edge nearest
the dock but only 13"
away from it.
Among feasible and acceptable abatement methods, one method is to follow
the Tug
Manufacturing Corporation operator's manual recommendations for belt
loader equipment
including but not limited to; (1) do not use the belt loaders as a man
lifter for other personnel;
(2) do not walk on any part of the conveyor other than the belt as the
frame may be extremely
slippery; (3) do not ride on the belt, conveyor or fenders; (4) do not
ride the belt if it is moving;
(5) use the right side hand rail when walking on the conveyor belt.
Also among feasible and acceptable abatement methods, one method is to
follow the
recommendation of the K-Loaders Manufacturers including FMC Airline
Equipment such as but
not limited to; (1) do not allow employees to use for access and egress,
to
the topside of the
planes the elevator platform of the K-loaders, (2) ensure that when the
manual/hydraulic fold-
down front platform flaps are in the up position that they are locked in
place to prevent collapse
of the fold-down flaps.  Ensure that a policy of maintaining a distance of
2" to 6" from the planes is complied with.
Among feasible and acceptable abatement methods for item (s), one method
is to add additional
locks to the dollies so that the employees are not exposed to falling
through openings in the
dollies.

Issued

Jul 19, 2000

Abate by

Sep 5, 2000

Penalty

Initial $70,000 · Current $35,000 Reduced

Issued

Jul 19, 2000

Abate by

Sep 5, 2000

Penalty

Initial $70,000 · Current $30,000 Reduced