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

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 crushing and head trauma injuries from falling tree limbs: a) 618 Westmister Street, Allentown PA - On or about November 4, 2009, an arborist working from a aerial lift during a tree removal operation, dropped a 31 pound limb from the bucket onto the head of a employee below, resulting in a fatal injury as the arborist above was unaware of the employee's location. ABATEMENT NOTE: Among other methods, feasible and acceptable means of abatement would be to comply with ANSI Z133.1-2006 entitled "Safety Requirements for Arboricultural Operations", Section 8.4.10 "Arborists working aloft (either climbing the tree or from an aerial device) shall establish a communication system with arborists or other workers on the ground" and section 8.4.11 which states that "A method of verbal/visual communication shall be discussed and established during the job briefing, prior to the start of removal/rigging operations. The verbal/visual communication system shall use an established command and response system or pre-arranged, two-way hand signals. The communication method shall be clearly understood and used during all rigging operations." No abatement certification or documentation required.tion