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

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 form 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 struck and/or crushed: a). Bucket yard north of building - employees were using an American guy derrick (model #140-3E) to lift a drag bucket (weight unknown, no scales on property), with a 120 foot mast and 80 foot boom, that was not erected and constructed to meet all stresses imposed on main members and components under normal operating conditions. The derrick had two of the six 1 1/8th inch guy wires at the ground level release from their wire rope clips causing the derrick to collapse, on or about August 1, 1995, as a result of the following: 1. Wire rope clips were not uniformly spaced. 2. Wire rope clips were not torqued to 225 Ft. lbs.. 3. Wire rope clips were not retightened an hour after operation had started. 4. Wire rope clips were not checked at frequent intervals. 5. Wire rope clips were previously used, not new. 6. A single wire rope clip was used on each guy wire wedge socket at the mast head, joining the live and dead ends. The single wire rope clip should be attached to the dead end only. 7. Hoist and running ropes were dry/rusted and lacked the lubrication necessary for movement of all parts of the wire rope. 8. Six guys were used, instead of 12 as required by the manufacturer, in the erection of the derrick. 9. Guys were anchored at 165 feet from the base of the mast, instead of not less than 485 feet minimum per the erection drawing. Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct the hazard is to follow manufacturer's erection requirements for alteration and American National Standards Institute B30.6-1969 for Derricks, along with clip manufacturer requirements and rigging manual procedures.