OSHA Inspection: AK STEEL

Issued

Nov 3, 2003

Abate by

Dec 1, 2003

Penalty

Initial $5,000

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:
On or about the morning of 7/10/03 employees walking, working, and / or
operating a powered
industrial truck in the area beneath the 414 crane, while maintenance work
was being done on
the crane, were exposed to the hazard of being struck by falling objects
such as, but not limited
to, tools and equipment being used by maintenance employees working
overhead. Employees
were exposed to hazards beneath the crane due to being unaware, or
uninformed, that work
overhead had begun. Employees were further exposed to being struck by the
falling load block
and hook of the crane's auxiliary hoist in the event of "two blocking" or
other hoist failure.
Employees were exposed to the "two block" condition in the event of
failure of the crane's upper
travel limit switch during hoist operation, or in the event of the hoist
being
operated with the
upper travel limit switch being over-ridden.
Among others, feasible and acceptable means to correct this hazard would
be:
A) To establish procedures that would ensure that employees walking and
working on the floor
area beneath overhead cranes that are being worked on, are notified that
the work overhead has
begun, and are kept clear.
B) To establish procedures that would minimize the potential of "two
blocking" the hoist when
testing the function of the upper travel limit switch on crane hoists
(such as the auxiliary hoist
on the 414 crane) where the crane operator can not readily see when the
hoist contacts its hoist
limit actuating bar. Procedures such as, but not limited to, the use of a
second employee outside
the crane cab to observe and alert the crane operator that the hoist is
contacting the limit switch
bar, rather than (as was the case on the auxiliary hoist of the 414 crane)
an
alarm that sounded
only after the limit switch had operated, and the hoist was then being
lowered back out of the
upper limit.
C) To establish procedures that will ensure; under maintenance or
servicing conditions requiring
the bypassing of upper travel limit switches, that all employees involved
in the work including
the crane operator and employees working beneath the crane, are initially
made aware that the
work will involve bypassing the limit switch. Procedures would then need
to ensure that the
employees are later notified that the limit switch has been bypassed, and
finaly, that they are
kept clear while the crane is operated in this condition.