OSHA Inspection: MID-AMERICA GOLF

Issued

2001-02-01 00:00:00

Abate by

2001-02-06 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $3500.00

General-duty citation text

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970:  The
employer did not
furnish employmnent 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 falling bundles of plastic pipe caused by improper methods
of unloading the
bundled piping from a transport truck.  Specifically, the fork lift device
(front-end-loader
equipped with forks) being used to unload the pipe bundles would not reach
high enough to
allow inserting the forks under the top tier of the already shifted,
tiered load, so the tips of the
forks, which would reach the bottom pipes of the top bundle, were being
used to drag the top
blundle far enough out to allow the bundle to fall on the forks of the
loader.  This caused the
already shifted second bundle to become more unstable and it fell on an
employee when the
employee attempted to secure it with straps to prevent further movement.
Feasible methods of abatement include, but are not limited to:
1)  Following the fork attachment manufacturer's recommendations to:
a)  Never allow an employee to be under loads being handled.
b)  Never drag the load.
c)  Never handle unstable loads.
d)  Keep the fork tips straight and level.
2)  Obtain the proper material handling equipment to enable the forks to
be properly inserted
horizontally under all the bundles of pipe.
3)  Position the truck or the front end load on different grades
sufficient to allow the level
insertion of the forks under the top bundles of pipe.