OSHA Inspection: PROFESSIONAL SERVICE INDUSTRIES, INC.

Issued

Feb 4, 2003

Abate by

Feb 7, 2003

Penalty

Initial $6,300

General-duty citation text

North Carolina General Statute  95-129(1) of the Occupational Safety and
Health Act of North
Carolina: The employer did not furnish to each of his employees conditions
of 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 hazards associated with a free standing 40,000 lb 19'-7" in width x
23' in height reinforced
concrete tilt-up wall panel falling over to the ground:
job site in Greensboro, NC-- in that the employer, as was required by the
project manual
as the testing agency, failed to ensure that all or 100of the structural
welds on the tilt-
up structure such as the joist to embed plate welds were complete and met
the
requirements set forth in the job specifications which required the "K"
series steel joists
to be attached to the embed plates with a minimum of two 1/8-inch (3 mm)
fillet welds
1 inch (25 mm) long on each seat to prevent the panels from falling.  The
employer had
three employees working on site on August 5, 2002.  Some of these
employees cut
through the building while going to and from different operations on the
site and one of
which had passed by the wall panel seconds after it fell.  The same
employee had been
outside the panel that fell testing soil and observing a crack on the
retaining wall earlier
the same morning.