OSHA Inspection: ARBORSCAPE INC.

Issued

Jun 4, 2008

Abate by

Jun 9, 2008

Penalty

Initial $1,500 · 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 employees
were exposed to the hazard of getting caught in the moving parts of a
Bandit 1590 chipper:
location: 2969 Springhurst St.
on or about: 5/15/08
a) Employees were operating a Bandit 1590 chipper. The employees used
their feet to push
branches into the chipper.
Among other methods, feasible and acceptable abatement methods to correct
this hazard are:
1. Follow ANSI Z133.1 2006, 8.6.11 which states: 'Hands or other parts of
the body shall not
be placed into the infeed hopper. Leaning into or pushing material into
infeed hoppers with feet
is prohibited.'
2. Follow the instructions stated in the Bandit Industries safety book
which states:
a) 'DO NOT reach or kick into the infeed hopper under any circumstances!'
b) 'The operators manual, video and decals (located several places on
chipper) state; "never put
feet or hands into the infeed hopper for any reason"' and
c) 'There have been several accidents that involved foot amputations, leg
amputations and death
as a result of operators kicking into the infeed hopper of the chipper.
Brush Chippers are
designed to be operated with hands placing the material into the chipper -
NOT FEET! If the
operator kicks the material that has become lodged or is not going into
the feed wheels, he or
she is placing themselves in extreme danger. If the wood does free up and
goes into the feed
wheels, the operator can be thrown off balance. NEVER KICK OR PLACE A FOOT
IN THE
CHIPPER INFEED HOPPER!'
NOTE: Because abatement of this violation is already documented in the
inspection case
file, the employer need not submit certification or documentation of
abatement for this
violation as normally required by 29 CFR 1903.19.

Issued

Jun 4, 2008

Abate by

Jun 9, 2008

Penalty

Initial $3,000 · Current $2,100 Reduced

Issued

Jun 4, 2008

Abate by

Jun 9, 2008