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

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 fall from an elevation: (a) On site in the showroom area, employees were assembling a display rack to hold plumbing fixtures on August 22, 1997 and one employee was standing on a wood pallet attached to the forks of a Clark C-500 industrial truck. The employee on the pallet was moving a board or "top plate" into position 17 feet above the floor and was not protected from falling by the use of a personal fall arrest system. This lack of protection resulted in his fall to the floor, on or about 8/22/97. Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct this hazard is to utilize personal fall protection equipment as referenced in Safety Standards for Powered Industrial Trucks ANSI B56.1-1992 Sections 4.12.1(b), 7.35.1(d) and Safety Requirements for Personal Fall Arrest Systems, Subsystems and Components ANSI Z359.1-1992 for criteria. "OR IN THE ALTERNATIVE" 29 CFR 1910.178(m)(12)(i): Industrial truck(s) used to lift personnel were not provided with a firmly secured safety platform: (a) Showroom area - Employees were using a pallet (not a safety platform) attached to the forks of a Clark C-500 industrial truck and an employee was elevated to work on assembling a display which was at 17 feet above the floor and fell to the floor below, on or about August 22, 1997.