OSHA Inspection: NICHOLAS MIGLIACCIO

Issued

Jan 25, 2010

Abate by

Jan 28, 2010

Penalty

Initial $1,500 · Current $1,500

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 a struck-by hazard due to falling tree limbs
during tree removal
rigging operations:
a)Yard, 11 Lawrence Trail, Long Valley, NJ.
Employee working as a ground man and tasked with lowering cut limbs to the
ground by use
of a workline and tree wrap, was exposed to the hazard of being struck by
a descending
limb.  No rigging points were assessed nor a rigging plan established by
the employer to
estimate the potential forces at any point in the rigging system being
used on-site.  A limb,
estimated to weigh approximately 1,000 lbs, had a working-load limit not
compatible with
that rigging system.  As a result, the descent of the limb was not
controlled
and struck the
employee working on the ground.
This condition was observed on or about 9/4/2009.
ABATEMENT NOTE:  Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable method to
correct this hazard is to:
1:Have the rigging points assessed for their structural integrity by a
qualified arborist.
The rigging plan and the tree shall be considered relative to the forces
being applied to any
part of the tree, including branch attachments and anchoring roots, before
a rigging point is
chosen and established in accordance with ANSI Z133.1-2006  American
National Standard
for Arboricultural Operations, section 8.4.6.
2:Have the rigging system components comply with working-load limits
relative to the
operation and the maximum potential forces.  Arborist shall be educated to
understand and
trained to estimate the potential forces at any point in the rigging
system
being used in
accordance with ANSI Z133.1-2006  American National Standard for
Arboricultural
Operations, section 8.4.8.
Additionally, as described in section 8.4.13 of ANSI Z133.1-2006, 'Only
qualified arborists
or qualified arborist trainees directly involved in the operation shall be
permitted in the work
zone when a load is being suspended by the rigging system.

Issued

Jan 25, 2010

Abate by

Jan 28, 2010

Penalty

Initial $1,500 · Current $1,500