Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard: FALLING

Nevada Revised Statute 618.375(1): The employer failed to furnish employment and a place of employment which was free from recognized hazards that were causing or were likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees: The employer failed to furnish employment and a place of employment which was free from recognized hazards for employees cleaning windows at the Buffalo Bill's Resort & Casino, as follows: a.Suspended work was allowed to be performed when it had not been determined that the building had provided, identified and certified anchorages for independent safety lines and primary support anchorage for rope descent systems. The employer had utilized four metal pipes as anchorage but the pipes had not been approved/certified by a registered professional engineer. Ropes for the Rope Descent and Personal Fall Arrest Systems were tied around the unsecured pipes that were lying in front of the doorways of the hotel rooms. The ropes were then carried into an adjacent hotel room and tied around the toilet. These anchorages were used without certifying that the doorways and toilets could hold the employees as they rappelled down the face of the hotel to wash the windows. Reference: ANSI/IWCA I-14.1-2001, Window Cleaning Safety, Section 3.9, Anchorages, "Building owners and window cleaning contractors shall not allow suspended work to be performed unless it has been determined that the building has provided, identified and certified anchorages complying with section 9 or 10." AND, Section 5.7.17(a), Suspension Devices for Rope Descent Systems, "A rope descent system may be suspended from equipment that is transported from building to building, providing that the design of the support apparatus and the part of the structure where it is placed has been approved by a registered professional engineer for all loads that will be imposed in accordance with section 9 and 17 of this standard." b.Independent anchorages for personal fall arrest systems were not used by the employees while washing windows on the face of the building. In four hotel rooms the ropes for the Rope Descent and Personal Fall Arrest Systems were tied around an unsecured metal pipe lying in front of the doorway to each of the hotel rooms and then tied around a toilet in an adjacent hotel room. Reference: ANSI/IWCA I-14.1 - 2001, Window Cleaning Safety, Section 5.7.6, Rope Descent Systems (RDS), "Operators of rope descent systems shall utilize and be safely secured to an independent fall arrest system complying with section 3.8 and 5.7.4 and section 9.2" c.A rope log recording the use of the lifelines was not provided when requested. Reference: ANSI/IWCA I-14.1 - 2001, Window Cleaning Safety, Section 9.2.2(e), Personal Fall Arrest System, "Ropes shall be inspected according toSection 5.7.16(d) and a means shall be provided by the employer to identify and log the use of lifelines." The employees were exposed to a fall of up to 14 stories (15 floors) to the concrete slabs below. One feasible means of abatement would be to ensure that all aspects of the ANSI/IWCA I-14.1-2001, Window Cleaning Safety, standard are followed.