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 were likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to serious crushing-type injuries: a)Employees operating motorized pallet jacks were allowed or required to drive the pallet jacks up to battery charging stations exposing them to the potential hazard of being crushed between the shelving unit and the back rest of the pallet jack. Specifically, the shelving units holding up the battery chargers were configured high enough to allow the motor/control arm end of a pallet jack to pass underneath the shelf, but low enough to allow the operator to be pinned between the shelf and the back rest on the motorized pallet jack. Further, once a pallet jack had begun to pass underneath a shelving unit the shelf height restricted the upper movement of the control arm thus limiting the operator's ability to use this method to apply the brakes on the device (at a time when the operator was at greatest risk of being pinned between the shelf and the back rest). While ultimate responsibility for correcting the hazard rests with the employer, given its superior knowledge of the workplace, feasible and acceptable methods to correct the hazards, among others, are: (1) to lower the battery charger shelving units to prevent any part of the motor end of a double pallet jack from passing underneath them; (2) to install shelving unit crossmembers near the floor to serve as barrier guards, or; (3) install angle iron barrier guards on the floor to prevent any part of a double pallet jack from rolling underneath the shelving units. Abatement certification is required for this violation (using the CERTIFICATION OF CORRECTIVE ACTION WORKSHEET), and in addition, documentation demonstrating that abatement is complete must be included with your certification. This documentation may include, but is not limited to, evidence of the purchase or repair of the equipment, photographic or video evidence of abatement, or other written records.