OSHA Inspection: KOCH AGRICULTURE INC. DBA KOCH AGRI SERVICES

Issued

Sep 8, 1995

Abate by

Sep 26, 1995

Penalty

Initial $4,000 · Current $4,000

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 the hazard of being struck by railroad cars:
(a)Rail car unloading site - On or about July 21, 1995, and at times prior
thereto,
employees were not trained to move railcars safely.
AMONG OTHER METHODS, ONE FEASIBLE AND ACCEPTABLE ABATEMENT
METHOD TO CORRECT THIS HAZARD IS:
(1)Train all employees involved in moving railcars prior to being assigned
these
duties.d

Issued

Sep 8, 1995

Abate by

Sep 26, 1995

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 the hazard of being injured by the failure of the wire
rope for the Car Puller:
(a)Rail car unloading site - On or about August 8, 1995, and at times
prior thereto,
employees were exposed to the hazard of being struck by or injured by the
wire
rope and components of the rail car puller.  The following deficiencies
were
noted:
(1)The wire rope was damaged in several locations.  The wire rope had the
appearance of bird caging in some locations; the eyes were flatten,
crushed with open and closed kinks and had evidence of wear damage; the
wire rope had wear damage where the  5/8 inch wire rope was flattened
out where it passed over approximately a 1 inch sheave; in one location
50of the wires in one strand were broke; in another location the wire
rope failed from a tension break.
(2)The 5/8 inch diameter  wire rope was used with approximately a 1 inch
sheave.  In addition, the  5/8 inch diameter wire rope without defects
would have a safety factor of less than
(3)The wire rope was spliced on the take up drum.  In addition, the spice
was made with two live ends.
(4)The eyes were formed with the wire rope without using a thimble;
(5)The cable clips (U-bolts) were staggered with the U-bolt clamping down
on the live end for the eye located on the west side.
(6)The ends of wire rope did not have seizing wire or strand to prevent
unraveling of the wire rope;
(7)Only two U-bolts were used for the east eye.
(8)U-bolts were not properly spaced.  The eye on the west side had three
Ubolts
spaced approximately 1/2 inch apart.
AMONG OTHER METHODS, ONE FEASIBLE AND ACCEPTABLE ABATEMENT
METHOD TO CORRECT THIS HAZARD IS:
(1)Inspect wire rope of a frequent basis.  Wire rope to be taken out of
service when
defects render the wire rope unsafe.   Maintain wire rope in accordance
with wire
rope manufacture recommendation.
(2)Use wire rope only with the proper size sheave. According to various
rigging
manuals, a proper fitting sheave groove should support the rope over
135-150
degrees of rope circumference.  When using wire rope for towing a safety
factor
of 3:1 is required.  The minimun diameter to safely pull rail cars should
be a 3/4
inch diameter wire rope.  Ensure that the wire rope used and the sheave is
always
properly sized.
(3)Do not splice where the wire rope will go over sheaves or be wound up
on a take
up drum.  In addition, if splices are made where the wire rope will not be
on a
take up drum or go over sheaves, wire roped can be joined by the use of two
connecting eyes with thimbles.
(4)Constructing eyes without thimbles will result in the wire rope damage.
The rope
will flatten, crush and wear.
(5)Follow various rigging manuals for proper installation of U-bolts.
Never place the
saddle on the dead end of the wire rope.  If installed incorrectly the
U-bolt
damages the live end of the wire rope, and reduces the efficiency of the
connection.
(6)Prior to cutting wire rope it is important that all rope ends be
tightly seized to
prevent wires and strands from becoming slack with use.  Follow wire rope
manufactures instruction or various rigging manuals on proper method of
seizing
wire rope.
(7)Use U-bolts in accordance with the wire rope manufactures
recommendation, or
follow various rigging manuals for guidance.  The 5/8 inch wire rope used
would
require three drop forged U-bolts.
(8)Use U-bolts in accordance with the wire rope manufactures
recommendation, or
follow various rigging manuals for guidance.  The 5/8 inch wire rope used
would
require the U-bolts to be  placed 4 inch apart.
NOTE:  The following is not intended to be a comprehensive list of
resources.  These
resources can be used for proper utilization of wire rope:
A.Handbook of Rigging for Construction and Industrial Operations, current
edition.
Published by McGraw-Hill Book Company.
B.Rigging Manual, current edition.  Published by Construction Safety
Association
of Ontario, 74 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada     M5C 2A5
C.National Safety Council Data Sheets Recommended Loads for Wire Rope
Slings
(I-380-Rev.86) and Care and Inspection of Wire Rope (I-667-REAF.89)
D.Manufacture recommendations for the wire rope purchased.