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

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 struck by and crushing hazards, and contact with energized lines: a) On or about January 26, 2005, employee(s) ran and operated truck #534-0019 that had defective and unsafe aerial operating controls, including the following: 1)The power take off (PTO) engagement located in the truck cab was inoperable. Employee(s) manually engaged the PTO while laying and reaching under the vehicle with the truck engine running which exposed employee(s) to being struck by or crushed in the event of accidental movement of vehicle. 2)Defective and sluggish hand controls within the aerial lift. Field maintenance repair on the damaged and missing lever pins created 1/2" inch and greater play in the upper basket controls which created a lack of positive control over hydraulics to the articulating boom and basket. Employee(s) operated equipment around and near overhead power lines and tree limbs that required precision placement of boom. Among other methods, feasible and acceptable methods to correct the hazards include repairing or replacing the damaged components in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations and the American National Standard for Vehicle-Mounted Elevating and Rotating Aerial Devices (ANSI/SIA A92.2-2001).ted