OSHA Inspection: NICHOLS ENTERPRISES, INC., DBA MIDAS

Issued

Jan 21, 2000

Abate by

Feb 16, 2000

General-duty citation text

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act: 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 or crushed resulting from the
increased likelihood
of a catastrophic failure of inadequately maintained automotive lifts:
(a)On or about September 13, 1999, and times prior thereto, the
owner/employer did not
maintain the automotive lifts at the facility to ensure their continued
safe operation.
Conditions noted at the time of this inspection which contributed to this
hazard
included:
1)Hydraulic lift number 2 (Rack No. 2) was leaking  automotive transmission
fluid that was used in the lift as hydraulic fluid.  The hydraulic lift
was not
equipped with a dip stick to determine the appropriate level of the fluid
in the
lift.
2)Hydraulic lifts number 1 and number 4 (Rack No. 1 & 4) were low on
hydraulic fluid.
Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method to
correct this hazard
is to establish, implement, and enforce an effective program for
inspecting and maintaining
the required mechanical integrity of the automotive lifts.  For further
information, refer to
the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and Automotive Lift
Institute (ALI)
standard for automotive lifts (ANSI/ALI B153.1-1990) and ANSI/ALI
standard, Safety
Requirements for Automotive Lifts Operation, Inspection and Maintenance
(ANSI/ALI
ALOIM-1994).
Note: Abatement certification required for this item.