OSHA Inspection: CHARTER STEEL CONSTRUCTION

Issued

Sep 5, 2000

Abate by

Sep 8, 2000

Penalty

Initial $3,500 · Current $2,100 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:
a) On the West side of the building under construction, employee(s) were
permitted to
use an unguarded platform to transport insulation to the roof.  A fork
truck was used to raise
the employees and the insulation to the roof top exposing employees to
falls.  The employees
were not equipped with personal fall arrest system and/ or the platform
was not equipped with
railing to protect employees from falls. The roof was approximately 20 -22
feet in height.  This
condition was exacerbated by the unstable condition of the platform as it
was not secured to the
carriage of the fork truck.
One feasible and acceptable abatement method, among others, to correct
these hazards is to
provide employees with a safety platform equipped with standard railing (
reference ANSI /ANSI
B56.1-1988) to control employee exposure to falls whenever a truck without
controls that are
elevatable with the lifting carriage or forks is used to elevate personnel
which includes, but is
not limited to the following:
(1) Train employees on the hazards of the operation
(2) Restraining means such as rails, chains etc. should be in place, or
persons on the work
platform shall wear a body belt and lanyard or retractable safety device.