OSHA Inspection: CLIFFHANGERS, INC.

Issued

Oct 20, 2006

Abate by

Nov 22, 2006

Penalty

Initial $3,000 · Current $1,000 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 workers
engaged in window washing operations were exposed to fall hazards,
crushing hazards, and
struck by hazards resulting from an improperly assembled portable Roof Top
Roller system.
(a) Location - 280 Locke Drive, Marlborough, MA:
On or about 07-24-2006, a window washing employee while suspended from a
portable
roof top roller fell about 30 feet to the ground, along with the
employee's rope decent
system.
* No on-site inspection was performed prior to the start of the work, as
per the
manufacturer's instructions and ANSI/IWCA STD I-14.1-2001 5.7.17 (b)
Portable
support devices shall be inspected by a competent person before, during
and
after daily
use. Operator at a minimum, check for cracks, bends, missing pins/bolts
and other items
that may affect the support capability of the device.
* No hazard assessment was performed prior to the start of the work.
Feasible and acceptable abatement methods to correct this hazard include
but are not
limited to:
1) Conduct comprehensive, effective hands-on training and testing, repeated
to ensure that each employee engaged in window washing operations works
safely on
rigs, anchors, roof rollers, and any other outrigger beam suspension
used in such operations. Such training shall be conducted in employees'
native
language(s) if they do not speak English. Do not permit employees to
engage in window
washing operations, or work on outrigger beam suspension units, until they
have
completed such training in a satisfactory manner.