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 from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to death, serious injury and/or crushing injuries caused by the collapse of pre-fabricated wooden roof trusses which were not adequately secured or braced during installation: Hartland Consolidated School - On or About May 28, 1999, this employer failed to ensure that 47 T-5 and T-6 trusses, with a combined weight of 38,916 pounds, were adequately secured and braced in accordance with the Truss Placement Plan or Publication HIB-91 Summary Sheet published by the Truss Plate Institute which sets forth specific temporary bracing standards for the wood trusses being installed. Failure to follow these procedures did result in a serious structural collapse and one fatality. While the ultimate responsibility for correcting hazards rests with the employer, given it's superior knowledge of the workplace, feasible and acceptable methods to correct this hazard, among others, are to follow the temporary bracing standards in Publication HIB-91 or the Truss Placement Plan including: 1) making all temporary bracing connections with a minimum of two 16d nails, 2) installing 2 X 4 top chord lateral bracing spaced according to a registered professional engineer's design for the T-5 trusses and installing 2 X 4 or equivalent top chord lateral bracing no more than 7 feet apart for the T-6 trusses, 3) installing bottom chord bracing according to a register professional engineer's design for the T-5 trusses, 4) lapping lateral 2 X 4 bracing across at least 2 trusses, 5) installing top chord diagonal (45 degree) bracing according to a registered professional engineer's design for the T- 5 trusses and installing top chord diagonal (45 degree) bracing no more than 10 trusses apart for the T-6 trusses, 6) installing cross bracing on each end of the building and at 20 foot intervals for the T-5 trusses, 7) installing bottom chord diagonal (45 degree) bracing according to a registered professional engineer's design for the T-5 trusses and installing diagonal (45 degree) bracing on the end verticals for the T-6 trusses, and 8) installing ground bracing for the building interior and exterior.