Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard: LIFTING

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)Wash Room of the Die Department; electric hoist was attached to a homemade cart, mounted on two vertical tracks, to transfer die tubes up to and down from the second floor. The stopper for the upper limit switch was improperly installed and used as the primary means for stopping the cart in the up position which contributed to the wire rope failure and the cart to fall from the second floor level. Employees walked under the suspended cart to install and remove brackets that were placed in the track to catch the cart of a failure of the hoist or cable occurred. No engineering design or calculations were done on the brackets to ensure the strength was adequate to catch a freefalling cart. The cart was stored on the second floor with the brackets, in the tracks, two feet below the cart. Employees used the space under the cart as a walk way for this room. 1.Hoist did not have cautionary warning sign to include information such as but not limited to: weight limit, centering the load, damaged rope, operating a damaged malfunctioned hoist, and lifting people or loads over people. ANSI B30 16-1.1.4 WARNINGS 2.Hoist did not have required inspections: initial and frequent. The hoist was put into service without being inspected by a designated person to ensure compliance with the applicable provisions. No frequent inspections were performed since the hoist was put into service in Fall, 2001. The upper limit switch was never tested as prescribed by inching the hoist up, without a load, into the device. Rope inspections were not conducted. ANSI B30 16-2.1, 16-2.1.2 and 16-2.4.1 INSPECTION, TESTING, and MAINTENANCE 3.Hoist and load-suspension parts were not load tested as required. ANSI B30 16-2.2.2(b)(2) LOAD TEST 4.Operators were not trained in the proper use of the hoist. Operators were not told the weight capacity of the hoist, the operators used the upper limit switch as a normal means of stopping the hoist, nor were the operators instucted on the proper means to install and remove the brackets from the tracks. The cart for the lift was stored on the second floor level. ANSI B30.16-3.1 HOISTING PRACTICES FOR OPERATORS 5.The cart was left on the second floor, suspended, with the non-engineered brackets two feet below the cart. ANSI B30.16-3.1.4 PARKING THE LOAD 6.Walking under a suspended load to install and remove brackets. Also when cart was stored on the second floor and brackets in the track. Owner's Manual Page 4. 7.Hoist was not installed in a location that will allow movement of the operator to stay clear of the load. The room layout did not allow the cart to be left on the first floor. Buckets were piled up alongside the track to force the worker to install and remove the bracket while being underneath the suspended cart. ANSI B30.16-1.3.3 LOCATION. Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct this hazard is to follow American National Standard Institute's ANSI B30 16-1993 Overhead Hoists ( Underhung )