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

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 striking hazard from an improperly controlled load: (a)New Auditorium at the Warwick High School, Lititz, Pennsylvania - The employer used a choker hitch, formed using a shackle in a 5/8-inch 6x20 IWRC single leg wire rope sling, to lift an 8-inch by 8-inch steel tube, which was 27 feet 4 inches long and weighed about 900 pounds. The choker hitch did not provide control of the load. When the employer had the steel tube suspended about 20 feet above the ground from a 35-ton Grove hydraulic crane, the steel tube slipped out of the choker sling, fell onto and fatally injured an employee standing on the ground, on November 11, 2002. Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct this hazard includes to weld a lug or attach a bridge clamp above the choker to prevent the steel tube from sliding out of the sling in accordance with ASME B30.9-1996, Secion 9-2.9(f). VERIFICATION REQUIRED