Text For Citation: 02 Item/Group: 001 Hazard: FALLING

GENERAL 5A1 WORDING 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 fall hazards related to drive cable failure: (a)1st Street (River Road) & 23rd Street, Vienna, WV - Employees operated an ASPLUNDH aerial lift (Model # LR-50, Serial #890-306) while performing trimming operations. Employees were exposed to severe fall hazard injures when the employer failed to perform daily and monthly inspections on the aerial lift's drive cables. The cables were not inspected monthly by a competent wire rope inspector as discussed by the lift's OPERATIONS MANUAL, which states that cables should be inspected monthly after two years of use. In addition daily inspections were not being performed as discussed in both the "OPERATIONS MANUAL" and "Bulletins". Noted were two 3/4 inch wire rope lift cables making up the lower drive cable assembly. The two wire rope cables broke causing the bucket to free-fall in excess of 25 feet. The wire rope cables were found to have exterior flat spots, corrosion and broken wires in the valleys of their strands. ABATEMENT NOTE: Conduct inspections on the upper boom drive cables in accordance with published inspections procedures as outlined in ASPLUNDH's Operation, Maintenance , Installation and Parts Manual for LR-42, LR-45, and LR-50 Aerial Lifts. For cables with over two years of use the inspections should be performed by a trained competent wire rope inspector monthly. Consideration should be given to electromagnetic non-destructive testing to detect localized faults such as wire breaks and damage and loss of metallic area. (b) 1st Street & 23 Street, Vienna, WV - Employees operated an ASPLUNDH aerial lift (Model # LR-50, Ser. # 890-306) while performing trimming operations. The upper and lower booms of the trim lift were moved by 3/4 inch drive cables which travelled around an outer pivot sheave. The sheave had four grooves over which the four drive cables travelled. The sheaves had herringbone patterns imbedded and imprinted in all four of the grooves of the sheave. Gaging the grooves in the sheaves indicated that groove radius for the sheaves was undersized for a 3/4 inch wire rope. This condition would cause the wire rope to be pinched and prevent proper movement of wires in the ropes. The herringbone pattern condition of the sheaves can cause flat spots and excessive outer wear as noted on the wire ropes when inspected. The wire ropes driving the upper boom and reeving around the sheave grooves were also noted to have internal strand corrosion, damaged core wires along its length and broken wires noted in the rope valleys along some of the wire rope that was still intact. ABATEMENT NOTE: Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method to abate this hazard is to replace the existing sheave with a new one having dimensions adequate for the size of the wire rope used and sheaves having adequate smooth grooves. Sheave condition should be incorporated into the overall wire rope inspection program.