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 a place of employment which was free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to fall hazards: (a)Pinneo Feedlot, Ltd. Liability Company at 32295 Highway 34, Brush, CO 80723: On or before 09/19/06, the employer did not ensure that open floors or platforms that were 4 feet or more above ground level were guarded by standard railings or the equivalent in the following instances: 1)The four corn silos in Brush included a 6 foot long walkway between each silo (three walkways) which included top rails at 36 inches high, but no midrails. Employees accessed each walkway to inventory the corn twice per month. Condition exposed employees to fall hazards of up to 40 feet; 2)The Butler corn bin in Brush did not provide standard railings where the employees inventory the corn by dropping a tape measure into the bin twice per month. The rail system stops several feet from both of the upper and lower holes. Conditions exposed employees to fall hazards of up to 40 feet; 3) The scalper catwalk in Brush included a stairrail system on the outside, and the conveyor provided guarding for the top rail on the inside. However, the distance from the catwalk to the conveyor measured 31 inches, and was missing a midrail on both the east and west sides of the scalper. Condition exposed employees to fall hazards of up to 40 feet; 4)A gap of 13" existed between the fixed ladder and the guardrail at the second silo. Condition exposed employees to fall hazards of up to 40 feet; 5)The room above the tool room included two 10' sides that had no guardrails, with a fall hazard of 8' 11"; 6)The platform above the flakers in the mill room was missing guardrails around its perimeter, with gaps measuring 8" to 12" between the platform and the wall, with fall hazards of up to 20'; 7)The platform one level down, accessed by ladder on the way to the bottom of the elevator leg, was missing guardrails, with openings estimated of 18" around the perimeter of the platform, with fall hazards of about 10'; 8)The platform used to access the open belts and pulleys on the north side of the mill, about midway up about at 40' high, did not extend all of the way to the motor, exposing employees to fall hazards when servicing this motor; 9)The door used to access the platform on the north side of the mill, about 40' high, swings into the platform inside the mill, where employees could beclimbing up the ladder and accessing this platform at the same time the door opens. If the door were to strike an employee, it would cause them to fall 13' through the open ladderway, onto the platform below. The door was not hinged on the correct side, and there was no way to keep the door open, and there was no means of communicating to employees climbing up that the door could open and strike them. Condition exposed employees to falls of 13'; 10)The platform used to access the liquid feeders, where the trucks pull in to obtain liquid supplement, was missing its midrail on all sides. Condition exposed employees to fall hazards of 13'; Abatement Note: Abatement certification and documentation are required for this item (see enclosed "Sample Abatement-Certification Letter") Abatement Note: Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method is to construct a standard railing consisting of a top rail 42 inches high, and a midrail 21 inches high, with the system capable of withstanding 200 pounds of top rail pressure, as referenced in 1910.23(e) and associated ANSI standards.