September 2007 - OSHA Cites Four Contractors for Single Fatality

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited four different contractors for a single accident leading to a fatality. The worker was electrocuted when a truck crane used to hoist reinforcing steel for foundation piers made contact with an overhead power line. The crane operator swung the boom into the power line, killing the worker of one company and injuring a worker from another company.

OSHA cited all four contractors for failure to maintain the minimum clearance between the crane and power lines, as follows:

• Company #1 cited for two alleged serious violations for failure to guard the swing radius of the crane and failure to train employees in how to safely operate forklift trucks.
• Company #2 cited for three alleged serious violations for failure to guard the swing radius of the crane and drilling rig, failure to repair damaged slings to hoist materials and equipment, and failure to protect employees from fall hazards.
• Company #3, owner and operator of the crane, was cited with six alleged serious violations, including failure to guard the swing radius of the crane, and failure to maintain and operate the crane in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications and industry standards.
• Company #4, a structural steel and pre-cast concrete contractor, was cited for one alleged serious citation, for failure to maintain the minimum clearance between the crane and overhead power lines.

"The employer should have ensured that there was a minimum clearance of 10 feet between the crane and the energized overhead power lines," said Dean McDaniel, OSHA’s regional administrator in Dallas. He added, "If OSHA’s safety standards had been followed, this tragedy could have been avoided."

The text of the 9/20/2007 OSHA Regional News Release is available at http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES∓p_id=14482.

COPYRIGHT ©2007, ISO Services Properties, Inc.

The information contained in this publication was obtained from sources believed to be reliable. ISO Services Properties, Inc., its companies and employees make no guarantee of results and assume no liability in connection with either the information herein contained or the safety suggestions herein made. Moreover, it cannot be assumed that every acceptable safety procedure is contained herein or that abnormal or unusual circumstances may not warrant or require further or additional procedure.