OSHA Inspection: GERMAN'S RECYCLING & RENTAL, INC.

Issued

Apr 1, 2014

Abate by

May 16, 2014

Penalty

Initial $2,800 · Current $1,960 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 crush-by hazards:       a) German's Recycling & Rental, Inc., @ R4 Box 1027 Piedmont, MO 63957: On October 10, 2013, a Bobcat 337 G Compact Excavator was being used with a La Bounty MSD 7R Shear and Moley ESB 26 Magnet, to remove scrap from the back of a 44 ft. semi-trailer without the employee operating the Excavator using the installed seatbelt. As a result, the operator was ejected from the cab when the Excavator became unstable and tipped onto its side.  The employee died as a result of his injuries.      b) German's Recycling & Rental, Inc., @ R4 Box 1027 Piedmont, MO 63957: On October 10, 2013, a Bobcat 337 G Compact Excavator was being used with a La Bounty MSD 7R Shear and Moley ESB 26 Magnet without the employer having enforced or put into place work rules requiring use of the installed seat belt, and, as a result, exposed employees to the hazard of being ejected from the cab and crushed in the event the Excavator became unstable or tipped over. On October 10, an employee operating the Excavator without using the seat belt and with the door opened was ejected from the cab when the Excavator became unstable and tipped onto its side.  The employee died as a result of his injuries.

Issued

Apr 1, 2014

Abate by

May 16, 2014

Penalty

Initial $2,800 · Current $1,960 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 crush-by hazards:       a) German's Recycling & Rental, Inc., @ R4 Box 1027 Piedmont, MO 63957: On October 10, 2013, the employer failed to ensure that when swinging a load using the Bobcat 337G Compact Excavator, the employee/operator swung the load slowly and kept the load low to the ground and did not exceed the Excavators load capacity.  The operator utilized the above excavator, which was equipped with a La Bounty MSD 7R Shear and Moley ESB 26 Magnet, to remove scrap from the back of a 44 ft. semi-trailer.  The above excavator became unstable when the operator rotated the cab/load when the load exceeded the lift capacity for the given over side configuration, lift height, and lift radius.  The above excavator tipped, ejected the operator from the seat/cab and crushed the operator who received fatal injuries from the incident.     b) German's Recycling & Rental, Inc., @ R4 Box 1027 Piedmont, MO 63957: On October 10, 2013, the employer allowed employees to operate the Bobcat 337G Compact Excavator without the proper and adequate training in how to safely operate the Excavator, including how to avoid causing the load to excessively and dangerously swing, how to keep the load low to the ground, how to keep the Excavator from tipping, and how to operate the Excavator within its load lifting capacity for the given over side configuration, lift height, and lift radius, and as a result exposed employees to the hazard of being injured and crushed in the event the Excavator became unstable or tipped over.   On October 10, an employee operating the Excavator without proper and adequate training was crushed to death when the Excavator became unstable and tipped onto its side.  The employee died as a result of his injuries.

Issued

Apr 1, 2014

Penalty

Initial $2,800 · Current $1,960 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.178(l)(1)(i): The employer did not ensure that each powered industrial truck operator was competent to operate the equipment as demonstrated by the successful completion of a training and evaluation program:       a) Germans Recycling & Rental, Inc. @ R4 Box 1027, Piedmont, MO 63957: On October 10, 2013, the employer did not provide training for employees prior to operating the Komatsu FG10 forklift. The forklift is used on a semi-day basis to transport materials and equipment around the facility.

Issued

Apr 1, 2014

Penalty

Initial $2,000 · Current $1,400 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1904.39(a): The employer did not notify OSHA within eight (8) hours after the death of any employee from a work-related incident:       a) Germans Recycling & Rental, Inc. @ R4 Box 1027, Piedmont, MO 63957: On October 10, 2013, the employer did not notify OSHA within 8 hours of a work-related fatality. OSHA as notified by a third party on eight days after the fatality on October 18, 2013.