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 an eight foot fall hazard into the flow meter pit: (a) Waste Management Department, Office, - an eight foot fiberglass step ladder used to gain access and egress to an eight foot deep flow meter pit, was defective, in that the metal spreader or locking device was broken and the ladder was not removed from service, exposing employee(s) to a 8 foot fall hazard into the pit below, if the ladder collapsed. (b) Waste Management Department, Office - when an eight foot fiberglass step ladder was used to gain access and egress to an eight foot deep flow meter pit, the employees used the top step of the ladder as steps, exposing employees to an eight foot fall hazard. (c) Waste Management Department, Office - an eight foot fiberglass step ladder used to gain access and egress to an eight foot deep flow meter pit, did not extend at least three feet above the landing surface, exposing employees to an eight foot fall hazard. Among Others, one feasible and acceptable method of abatement to correct this hazard is to remove the step ladder from service and replace it with an appropriate extension ladder that meets the requirements of OSHA standards or the requirements for fiberglass stepladders contained in ANSI standards A14.5-1992.