OSHA Inspection: TERMAC CORPORATION

Issued

2014-07-02 00:00:00

Abate by

2014-07-09 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $4900.00 · Current $3000.00 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 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 struck by hazards caused by the operation of vacuum trucks without functional back-up alarms:     a) 7330 Tulip Street, Philadelphia, PA - The employer continued to operate a 2012 Ford F-550 Superduty Vacuum Truck (GTO-1) without a working audible back-up alarm or an observer as a ground guide while backing up.  The rear view from the driver's cab is obstructed by the vacuum equipment.  On or about March 7, 2014 this truck struck an employee while backing into 7343 Edmund Street, the rear entrance to the Tulip Street facility, and the employee was pinned against the building and seriously injured.     Among other methods, one feasible method to abate this hazard is to repair or replace the back-up alarm on the vacuum truck. Other preventative measures include training employees to recognize where blind spots are and how to avoid being in them, the installation of camera equipment to display the rear view to the driver, the installation of proximity detection devices such as radar and sonar, and the establishment of internal traffic control plans to reduce the need to back up and establish zones to separate employees on foot from operating equipment.