OSHA Inspection: BAKER PILE DRIVING AND SITE WORK, LLC

Issued

2010-05-26 00:00:00

Abate by

2010-06-08 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $1500.00

General-duty citation text

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970:  The
employer did not
furnish to each of his employees a place of employment which was 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 being struck by a crane boom
during disassembly:
On or about 05/11/2010, three employees were disassembling the 140 foot
boom on an
American 9260 Crawler Crane. The boom was lowered to approximately 3 feet
above
the ground and the disassembly began before any means of support were
placed under
the boom sections to prevent it from falling when the retaining pins were
removed. This
exposed the employees to the hazard of being struck by the falling
sections of the crane
boom.
Among other methods, a feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct
this hazard
would be to block the sections of the boom to prevent it from falling as
specified by the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) B30.5 - 1968. Employees
should not
be allowed to remove the retaining pins while positioned on or under the
boom even
when properly blocked. Additionally, employees should be properly trained
on the
hazards associated with the assembly and disassembly
of cranes and their attachments.
DISCLAIMERS:
1) You are not limited to the abatement methods suggested above.
2) The methods explained are general and may not be effective in all cases.
3) The employer is responsible for selecting and carrying out an
appropriate method.