OSHA Inspection: U.S. ELECTRICAL SERVICES, INC

Issued

Feb 4, 2015

Abate by

Feb 24, 2015

Penalty

Initial $7,000 · Current $5,250 Reduced

General-duty citation text

OSH ACT of 1970 Section (5)(a)(1): 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 crushing hazard:     On or about 8/5/2014, 4261 Throgs Neck Expressway      a) Employees used a manual Hyster 2500kg pallet jack in an attempt to off load a top heavy Eaton 9390 Powerware battery cabinet (2,760.0 lbs) from a box truck. The employees lost control of the cabinet while moving it on the elevated lift gate of the box truck, resulting in it falling off the lift gate and striking an employee on the ground below.       Among other methods, there are several feasible and acceptable abatement methods to correct this hazard:    1)    To prevent potential crushing injuries from the load tipping or shifting, provide equipment that can secure and move heavy and top heavy loads, including but not limited to, the Eaton Powerware 9390 Integrated Battery Cabinet.    2) Ensure employees follow the Eaton Powerware manufacturer safety instructions which states:                                                       Cabinet Installation Plan and Unpacking- Pages 2-4            a) "The battery cabinet is extremely heavy and top heavy, and, if unloading instructions are not followed closely, the cabinet may tip and cause serious injury".          b) "Do not tip the cabinet more than 10 degrees from vertical or cabinet may tip over".    3)  Ensure that employees follow the manufacturers instructions for the Hyster pallet jack, which states "do not lift or transport unstable or loosely stacked loads-use special care when handling long, wide or high loads to avoid losing the load, striking bystanders or tipping the truck".