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

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 falling from an elevation. At the facility for job operations in the polystyrene bead expander area, employee(s) were exposed to the hazard of falling from the inside of the pre-expander to the floor while clearing the machine expansion chamber of expanded foam. The employee(s) were required to work inside of the machine using tools to dig the expanded out of the machine, which included climbing onto the metal stirring bars. The fall height was approximately 6 feet 7 inches as measured from the floor to the bottom of the chamber. This condition exposed employees to the hazard of falling from an elevation. Among other methods, feasible and acceptable abatement methods to correct this hazard include: 1.Providing an appropriate work platform at the chamber door which would serve as a landing. The work-platform should have an appropriate guardrail system, including a midrail and top rail. A toe board should also be provided if tools or equipment could be dropped from the platform onto employees below. 2.An appropriate fall arrest system including a harness and lanyard which would prevent the employee from falling out of the expansion chamber. The employer is not limited to the abatement methods described above.