Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard: STRUCK BY

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 a struck by hazard: On January 17, 2008, and at times prior thereto, employees operating a RT460 trencher were exposed to a struck by hazard when control levers to the dipper boom and bucket were not being handled from the backhoe operator seat but were being handled by the main operator's seat, using a job-fabricated pipe/cheater bar. The operation of the equipment is in violation of the manufacturer's instructions and places employees in danger from the erratic movement of the heavy equipment. Among other methods, one(1) feasible and acceptable method to correct this hazard is to not use the pipe/cheater bar to operate the equipment and to operate the controls only from the backhoe seat as specified in the RT460 Trencher Operator's Manual AU103171 15B ASTEC.