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

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 hazard of 12' 8": (a)On or about March 8, 2004, at Westwood Chemical Corporation in the truck scale room, an employee was observed stepping off the overhead platform onto the top of a Penske Tank truck to open the three hatches so that antiperspirant additives could be delivered into the fifteen cubic foot capacity truck. The distance from the top of the truck to the concrete floor below was 152" or 12' 8" inches. Some feasible and useful methods of abatement to eliminate this fall hazard include but are not limited to: 1) Purchase and install commercially available truck ramp systems to allow access to the hatch openings. or 2) Provide lanyards and ensure personal fall arrest systems prevent a free fall in excess of six feet in accordance with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI 1992 document, paragraph 7.2.2). Ensure lanyards have connectors which are compatible with the anchors that the connector attaches at the anchorage point and not back onto itself in accordance with ANSI Z359 paragraph 7.2.5. ABATEMENT CERTIFICATION IS REQUIRED FOR THIS ITEM.