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 fall and/or crushing hazards from an inadequately designed material handling device: Basement - On July 25, 2005 an employee sustained severe injuries after falling 8 feet through an open hatchway that services a material handling device located in the basement of the store. The material lifting device was not adequately installed and constructed and did not have appropriate safety features and signage in accordance with ANSI/ASME (American National Standard Institute/American Society of Mechanical Engineers) A17.1 - Safety Code for elevators and escalators (which also includes installation/design standards for material lifts and dumbwaiters). Some design, construction, installation, and safety features for such devices include, but are not limited to: -Appropriate construction and fire resistance rating of materials used to construct a hoistway enclosure -Appropriate vertical or horizontal sliding doors of solid fire rated material construction -Safety interlocks on doors -Appropriate safety gate on car -Overlimit (travel) protection switches -Overlimit speed protection switches -Travel rails for car constructed of steel or other material (not wood) -"Call" and "Send" buttons for activating travel of car -Appropriate warning signs (i.e., for instance, indicating "No Riders") -Data plates indicating name of lift manufacturer, travel speed, weight capacities, etc. ABATEMENT NOTE Should a decision be made by the company to continue to utilize such a material handling device, the device shall be installed to meet the appropriate ANSI/ASME requirements for the latest edition of these standards (year 2000). The device installed must meet the safety standard requirement for a freight elevator, dumbwaiter, or material lift. The device should be installed by a recognized and experienced business who specializes in the installation//design of such devices. Additionally, such device chosen shall be inspected by the State of Maine Board of Elevator and Tramway Safety at established intervals.d