OSHA Inspection: TEAM FISHEL (THE FISHEL COMPANY)

Issued

Sep 27, 2010

Abate by

Sep 30, 2010

Penalty

Initial $5,000 · Current $5,000

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 being crush or
struck by a
performing work on a Mini Excavator while still loaded on the
transportation flat bed trailer and
not on a stable and solid surface; in the event that the weight of the
mini excavator mixed with
other conditions such as the load weight, the extension of the
articulating arm and the
cohesiveness of the ground can cause the transport flat bed trailer to
turn over.
a. On or about 08/17/2010. 5230 State Road 60 near the South entrance - a
New Holland
E50SR mini excavator was being operated to perform work which consisted of
scooping
soil from a dump truck and rotating the upper structure of the excavator
to dump it in
the ground. This work was conducted while the mini excavator was loaded on
a
Trail
King TK 40LP transportation flat bed trailer and not secured to the
trailer. Furthermore,
the transport flat bed trailer was parked on an uneven surface and the
work required
swinging the upper structure of the excavator to the lower side of the
surface grade and
the rotation was causing the trailer to tip down on the side where the
work was
performed. Additionally, the mini excavator tracks were parallel with the
trailer sides and
not pointing to the direction of the slope as specified by the
manufacturer in the
operator's manual and by the Construction Industry Manufacturers
Association safety
manual for hydraulic excavators.
Among other methods, two feasible and acceptable abatement methods to
correct this hazard are:
1)Perform all mini excavator work operations on a stable surface.
2)Do not perform excavation work when the mini excavator is situated on a
trailer.
3)Perform work operations with the tracks pointing down the same direction
of the slope
to prevent the mini excavator from turning over.