Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard: STRUCK BY

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: The employer did not furnish employmnent 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: Employees working near the wood chipper were exposed to recognized hazards of being "struck by wood chips, metal fragments, and or metal chipper machine parts caused by the failure of the containment system of the Precision Husky 58" wood chipper. The employer did not take adequate measures to control employee(s) exposure, in that: The Precision Huysky wood chipper was allowed to be operated without bolting down the horizontal and vertical planes of the chipper hood as recommended by a warning desgnation in the manufacturer's operators manual. The Precision Husky wood chipper was allowed to be operated without assurances or detection devices that would not allow tramp metal or metal objects to be feed into the wood chipper. The employer allowed maintenance, repair and modification of the Precision Husky wood chipper hood in a manner not within the design requirements specified by the manufacturer. The potential for being "struck by" was demonstrated by the following instance: On or aboutr 1/21/98 when the PRecision Husky wood chipper's hood was ejected, employees were in the area. Recognized and feasible means of abatement to correct this hazard include, but are not limited to: Bolt down the horizontal and vertical planes of the chipper hood as recommended by the manufacturer. Install a metal detection device on the conveyor system prior to the chipper inlet feed so as to stop any tramp metal or metal objects from lbeing feed or introduced into the wood chipper. Develop and implement a maintenance and repair program in a manner that is consistent with the manufacturer's specification and design requirements.