Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 002 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 serious injury: a) Second floor; storage area: Employees were exposed to serious injuries while moving materials onto or off the freight elevator, no manufacturer's ID, in that, under the following conditions the elevator car was capable of free falling: 1) Only one wire rope was provided to suspend the elevator car from the hoisting mechanism. 2) There were no provisions made to prevent the elevator car from free falling in the event of a failure within the hoistway mechanism. 3) The hoistway mechanism was not equipped with a safety device which would remove electrical power from the hoist motor in the event of a slack rope condition. Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct this hazard is to bring the freight elevator into compliance with ANSI A17.1-1965.