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

Executive Order 12196, Section 1-201 (A): 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) The hazards of being struck by or crushed by overturning APC carts. this could occur because the dockboards at the loading dock, on the west side of the main post office, did not fit flush onto the back of the trailers. There was an approximately 5/8-inch gap between each dockboard and trailer potentially causing the APC carts that were being pushed off of the trailer to fall over and strike employees working on the dock. Among other methods, one reasonable and acceptable means of abatement is for a rubber piece to be fitted to the dockboard. The rubber piece would run the length of the side of the dockboard that is placed into the trailer. The rubber piece would be approximately two inches wide and approximately 1/4-inch thick where it is attached to the dockboard. The rubber piece would taper down to approximately on and 1/8 of an inch thick where it lays on the trailer floor. This would allow the APC carts to be unloaded without them getting hung up o the raised portion of the dock board. b) The hazards associated with the failure or collapse of a fixed stairway, this could occur because the stairway on the nw corner of the parking deck had three stress or settling cracks approximately five feet long and up to two inches wide on the south side of the brick wall. These three cracks ran the full height of the south wall. the north side of the wall at the top of the steps, had a crack approximately two inches wide and approximately two feet long. The security of the stairs is in question as well as there is a potential hazard of the stairs falling over and injuring any employees that are using the stairway. Among other methods, one reasonable and acceptable means of abatement would be to have an engineering firm inspect the wall and stairs to certify that they are safe or to recommend the necessary repairs and have repairs completed.