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 hazards of falling 78 - 117 feet, i.e. 78 feet (23.7 meters) from the roof deck to the third floor roof or 117 feet (35.6 meters) to the ground: (a) On or about October 17, 2005, employee(s) were exposed to the hazards of falling 78 - 117 feet from the roof of the building located at 811 Barton Springs Road in Austin, Texas while performing window washer helper tasks including pushing a portable rooftop roller along the parapet wall, moving supplies and equipment such as tether ropes, and leaning over the approximately 20 inch high parapet wall to talk to the Window Washer seated in the Sky Genie Seatboard System. Deficiencies in the employer's work safety and fall protection plan resulted in the Helper falling 6 stories from the roof deck to the 3rd floor roof, including, but not limited to: failure to ensure that suspended work was not performed unless it was determined that the building had provided, identified and certified anchorages complying with Section 9 or 10 of ANSI/IWCA I-14.1-2001 for: independent safety lines; tie-backs for outriggers, parapet clamps and cornice hooks; primary support anchorages for powered and manual boatswain's chairs; primary support anchorages for rope descent systems; horizontal (rope) lines or lifelines; and wherever else required; failure to require the use of personal fall arrest equipment when approaching within 6 feet (1.8 meters) of an unguarded roof edge; and failure to supervise employees. Among other methods, a feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct these hazards is as follows: 1) Prior to commencing suspended work, inspect the surface for structural anchorage points that are capable of supporting the intended loads in accordance with ANSI/IWCA I-14.1-2002; instruct employees in the proper use of these anchorages and all equipment provided them; and supervise the use of the equipment and devices to ensure that safe working practices are observed. (b) On or about October 17, 2005, employee(s) were exposed to the hazards of falling 78 - 117 feet from a suspended seatboard system while cleaning windows on the building located at 811 Barton Springs Road in Austin, Texas with the Window Washer's life line connected to the suspension device for the rope descent system instead of an independent anchor point. Both the primary support line for the descent control system and employee life line were attached to the back end of the Suspended Solutions Rooftop Roller, and a single tie-back rope was used to tether the rooftop roller to a roof hatch. The practice of attaching both the utility (main) line and the employee life line of a window washer's descent control system to the same anchor point exposes employees to the hazards of a fall since a single failure of the device could cause a worker to fall. Among other methods, a feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct these hazards is as follows: 1) Use of a separate fall arrest system [including sit harness or full body harness; rope grab or similar device; lifeline; and anchorage (all of which are completely independent of the friction device and its support system)], so that any failure in a friction device, support seat (or harness), support line, or anchorage system will not affect the ability of the fall arrest system to operate and quickly stop the employee's fall. Use of a horizontal line attached securely to substantial members of the building structure could serve as a separate and independent anchor point for the employee life line.