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

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 the hazard of being struck by objects tipping over such as a spreader used to off load cargo from a ship: a. South Cargo Pier #5, employees were in progress of off-loading containers and other cargo from a ship known as "The Ascension". While in progress of changing the lifting spreader from a small to a larger spreader in order to properly handle the cargo the larger spreader fell over into the cargo bay fatally injuring one employee. The spreader was stored between the containers and the bulkhead (rear cargo bay wall) and was leaning against the bulkhead, once the containers were removed the spreader was free standing without being secured from movement. When the hoisting cables were raised and passed through from the one side of the spreader to the other side in an effort to attach it to the crane hook the spreader started to tip over and subsequently fell into the cargo bay fatally injuring one employee who was caught by the falling spreader. One feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct these hazard is to follow the requirements of American National Standards Institute / American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ANSI/ASME) standard B30.20-1993 "Below the Hook Lifting Devices", chapter 20-1, section 20-1.6.4(c) titled "Lifting Device Operating Practices", which states that "The lifter shall be applied to the load in accordance with established procedures".