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 employmnent 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 hazard of being hit, crushed and/or pinched: WORK SITE: The employer did not ensure through establishing and implementing a safe and proper procedure for checking the oil levels of the final drives, during the maintenance of the CAT 330C, that the area(s) where the maintenance was in progress was barricaded, shielded and/or other effective means put in place to prevent employees coming in close proximity of the area. On or about 3/12/08, On or about March 12, 2008, employees were in the process of lifting, lowering and maneuvering the tracks of a Caterpillar 330C excavator with a bucket of the equipment in order to check the final drive oil level. During the maneuver an employee was struck by and pinched in between the bucket and tracks of the machine. As a result, the employee sustained severe compound fractures of the tibia and fibula as well as several lacerations, soft tissue and muscle damage from the incident. AMONG OTHER METHODS, ONE FEASIBLE AND ACCEPTABLE ABATEMENT METHOD TO CORRECT THE HAZARD IS TO: 1. Conduct a hazard assessment of the work process prior to the task. 2. Establish a safe procedure to align the final drive of the excavator to the appropriate level. 3. Train employees in the safe procedures 4. Implement engineering controls to restrict employees from the area of operation. 5. Utilize other effective engineering methods.ing