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 falls from elevation and drowning: On or about April 2, 2008, and at times prior thereto, the diameter of the swivel bolts which connected the ballast plate and the spreader bar was approximately 1/2 inch smaller than the diameter of the receiving bolt holes in the tongue on the ballast plate and the attachment point on the spreader bar. The sizing difference allowed the bolts to move vertically within the openings as traffic passed over the bridge, causing a shock load to the base of the eye on the ballast plate and to the upper arc of the opening in the spreader bar. This condition exposed employees to the hazards of falls to the river below and drowning. Among other methods, two feasible and acceptable abatement methods to correct this hazard is to (1) provide the appropriately sized swivel and bolts to correspond with the openings in the tongue on the ballast pate and spreader or (2) remanufacture the tongue and spreader bar openings to correspond with the size of the swivel bolts provided.