OSHA Inspection: A-CLEAR VIEW

Issued

Jan 11, 2006

Abate by

Jan 18, 2006

Penalty

Initial $1,500 · Current $750 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 the hazards of falling 78 - 117 feet, i.e. 78 feet (23.7
meters) from the roof
deck to the third floor roof or 117 feet (35.6 meters) to the ground:
(a) On or about October 17, 2005, employee(s) were exposed to the hazards
of falling
78 - 117 feet from the roof of the building located at 811 Barton Springs
Road in Austin, Texas
while performing window washer helper tasks including pushing a portable
rooftop roller along
the parapet wall, moving supplies and equipment such as tether ropes, and
leaning over the
approximately 20 inch high parapet wall to talk to the Window Washer
seated in the Sky Genie
Seatboard System. Deficiencies in the employer's work safety and fall
protection plan resulted
in the Helper falling 6 stories from the roof deck to the 3rd floor roof,
including,
but not limited
to: failure to ensure that suspended work was not performed unless it was
determined that the
building had provided, identified and certified anchorages complying with
Section 9 or 10 of
ANSI/IWCA I-14.1-2001 for: independent safety lines; tie-backs for
outriggers, parapet clamps
and cornice hooks; primary support anchorages for powered and manual
boatswain's chairs;
primary support anchorages for rope descent systems; horizontal (rope)
lines or lifelines; and
wherever else required; failure to require the use of personal fall arrest
equipment when
approaching within 6 feet (1.8 meters) of an unguarded roof edge; and
failure to supervise
employees. Among other methods, a feasible and acceptable abatement method
to correct these
hazards is as follows: 1) Prior to commencing suspended work, inspect the
surface for structural
anchorage points that are capable of supporting the intended loads in
accordance with
ANSI/IWCA I-14.1-2002; instruct employees in the proper use of these
anchorages and all
equipment provided them; and supervise the use of the equipment and
devices to ensure that safe
working practices are observed.
(b) On or about October 17, 2005, employee(s) were exposed to the hazards
of falling
78 - 117 feet from a suspended seatboard system while cleaning windows on
the building located
at 811 Barton Springs Road in Austin, Texas with the Window Washer's life
line connected to
the suspension device for the rope descent system instead of an
independent anchor point. Both
the primary support line for the descent control system and employee life
line were attached to
the back end of the Suspended Solutions Rooftop Roller, and a single
tie-back rope was used to
tether the rooftop roller to a roof hatch. The practice of attaching both
the utility (main) line and
the employee life line of a window washer's descent control system to the
same anchor point
exposes employees to the hazards of a fall since a single failure of the
device could cause a
worker to fall. Among other methods, a feasible and acceptable abatement
method
to correct
these hazards is as follows: 1) Use of a separate fall arrest system
[including sit harness or full
body harness; rope grab or similar device; lifeline; and anchorage (all of
which are completely
independent of the friction device and its support system)], so that any
failure in a friction
device, support seat (or harness), support line, or anchorage system will
not affect the ability
of the fall arrest system to operate and quickly stop the employee's fall.
Use of a horizontal line
attached securely to substantial members of the building structure could
serve as a separate and
independent anchor point for the employee life line.