In This Issue

Aerial Lifts & FallProtection

Mark NortonPage 1

Education and TrainingCalendar

Page 2

Buyer BewarePage 3

Variance on Scaffold BasePlatesPage 3

Fatal MistakesErnie Miller

Page 3

Arizona s Newest VPP SitePage 4

http://www.ica.state.az.us Darin Perkins, Director Summer 2003

ADOSH ADVOCATEImproving Workplace Safety and Health

ADOSH ADVOCATEPublished quarterly by the ArizonaDivision of Occupational Safety andHealth for employers and employeesof Arizona. The information in thisnewsletter is provided as a serviceand should not be considered as theexclusive source of the requirementsof the standards. This document is inthe public domain & we encouragere-printing.

Contributing Staff: Mark Norton, ErnieMiller, Steve Weberman

Kenneth P. Gaut: Design and Layoutken.gaut@osha.gov

Comments and suggestions are welcomeArizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health

800 West Washington Street 2675 East Broadway RoadPhoenix, AZ. 85007 Tucson, AZ. 85716

(602) 542-5795 (520) 628-5478

Aerial lift safety is covered under 29CFR 1926.453 as well as AmericanNational Standards (ANSI) A92.2-1969- Vehicle Mounted Elevating andRotating Work Platforms. Equipmentcovered under these standards includethe following vehicle types: Extensibleboom platforms, aerial ladders, articu-lating boom platforms, vertical towersand a combination of such devices. Thisequipment can be made of metal, wood,fiberglass, and reinforced plastic andare classified as aerial lifts whether ornot they can rotate about a substantial-ly vertical axis.

What is the biggest problem ADOSH isfinding with respect to aerial lifts? It isthe lack of adequate fall protection foremployees working from such equipment.Many times we observe employees work-ing from lifts without utilizing a fallrestraint or fallarrest system.1926.453(b)(2)(v)s p e c i f i c a l l ystates that a“body belt shallbe worn and a lan-yard attached tothe boom or bas-ket when workingfrom an aeriallift.” The stan-dard also notesthat as ofJanuary 1, 1998body belts are nolonger accepted as part of a personal fallarrest system. They continue to beacceptable for a fall restraint system.

This is where some employers are makinga mistake. There is a differencebetween a fall restraint system and afall arrest system. A fall restraint sys-tem is designed to prevent the employeefrom falling. For example, a restraintsystem may use a lanyard of such length

that it is not possible for an employee tofall out of the lift. On the other hand, afall arrest system may allow the employ-ee to fall, but prevents or reduces therisk of injury by limiting the fall dis-tance and impact on the employee. Thisis accomplished in a variety of ways suchas limiting the length of the lanyard orthe use of a shock-absorbing lanyard.

ADOSH compliance personnel can easilyspot fall protection violations in aeriallifts given the fact that the employeesare often elevated above ground in plainview and the lack of fall protection isinstantly visible. Because ADOSH has anemphasis program on fall related haz-ards a compliance officer is obligated tostop and address the situation.

It is in the best interest of the employ-er and the employee to become very

familiar with therequirements of1926.453 inorder to ade-quately protectemployees aswell as avoidpotential cita-tions and penal-ties. Training isa key factor inp r o t e c t i n gemployees. It iscommon forADOSH to issuea citation for

lack of training, in addition to a lack offall protection. All too often we hearemployers and employees say that theywere not familiar with the requirements.Unfortunately, this is often heard afteran injury or death. Please make everyeffort to become knowledgeable in thesafety requirements for aerial lifts andensure that you implement theserequirements at your worksites.

Mark Norton

Aerial Lifts & Fall Protection

July 8 Scaffold Safety Peoria Joe Gates 602-542-1641July 8 Machine Guarding Tucson Glynn Condit 520-320-4229July 9 OSHA in the Medical Office Yuma Fernando Mendieta 602-542-1640July 10 Back Injury Prevention Tucson Glynn Condit 520-320-4229July 10 Excavation Safety Awareness Flagstaff Joe Gates 602-542-1641July 15 Excavation Safety Awareness Avondale Joe Gates 602-542-1641July 15 OSHA Recordkeeping Tucson Glynn Condit 520-320-4229July 17 Welding and Flame Cutting Prescott Joe Gates 602-542-1641July 17 Excavation Safety Awareness Tucson Glynn Condit 520-320-4229July 22 Fall Protection Prescott Joe Gates 602-542-1641July 22 Forklift Train-the-Trainer Tucson Glynn Condit 520-320-4229July 23 Confined Space Entry Phoenix Fernando Mendieta 602-542-1640July 23, 24 Various classes (call for schedule)Keams Canyon Joe Gates 602-542-1641July 29 Lockout/Tagout Tucson Glynn Condit 520-320-4229July 29, 30 Various classes (call for schedule)Chambers Joe Gates 602-542-1641July 30 Confined Space Entry Tucson Fernando Mendieta 602-542-1640July 31 Respiratory Protection Tucson Fernando Mendieta 602-542-1640August 5 Fall Protection Tucson Glynn Condit 520-320-4229August 8 Construction Safety Management Tucson Glynn Condit 520-320-4229August 12 Scaffold Safety Awareness Tucson Glynn Condit 520-320-4229August 12 Forklift Train-the-Trainer Phoenix Joe Gates 602-542-1641August 12 Back Injury Prevention Peoria Fernando Mendieta 602-542-1640August 14 OSHA Recordkeeping Flagstaff Joe Gates 602-542-1641August 18 Forklift Train-the-Trainer Tucson Glynn Condit 520-320-4229August 21 Respiratory Protection Avondale Fernando Mendieta 602-542-1640August 22 Hand and Power Tool Safety Tucson Glynn Condit 520-320-4229August 26 Back Injury Prevention Tucson Glynn Condit 520-320-4229August 26 Lockout Tagout Phoenix Joe Gates 602-542-1641August 28 Excavation Safety Awareness Tucson Glynn Condit 520-320-4229August 28 Bloodborne Pathogens Prescott Fernando Mendieta 602-542-1640August 28 Excavation Safety Awareness Yuma Joe Gates 602-542-1641September 3 OSHA Recordkeeping Tucson Glynn Condit 520-320-4229September 4 OSHA in the Medical Office Tucson Fernando Mendieta 602-542-1640September 9 Electrical Safety Tucson Glynn Condit 520-320-4229September 9 Hazard Communication Peoria Fernando Mendieta 602-542-1640September 11 Safety Management Phoenix Joe Gates 602-542-1641September 12 Hazard Communication Tucson Glynn Condit 520-320-4229September 17 Crane Safety – Construction Tucson Glynn Condit 520-320-4229September 18 Electrical Safety Prescott Joe Gates 602-542-1641September 23 Welding & Cutting Safety Tucson Glynn Condit 520-320-4229September 24 OSHA in the Medical Office Phoenix Fernando Mendieta 602-542-1640September 25 Fall Protection Yuma Joe Gates 602-542-1641September 26 Forklift Train-the-Trainer Yuma Joe Gates 602-542-1641September 26 Back Injury Prevention Tucson Glynn Condit 520-320-4229September 30 Rigging Safety Tucson Glynn Condit 520-320-4229

ADOSH Education and Training Calendar

Date Course Location Trainer Phone

Trainers may also be contacted by e-mail at joe.gates@osha.gov, fernando.mendieta@osha.gov, glynn.condit@osha.gov

Registration for each course begins no earlier than 30 days prior to the date of the course. Location address and time of course will bedetermined at the time of registration. All ADOSH classes are free of charge and are subject to change or cancellation without notice.

Fatal MistakesExcavations along the side of a hill mustbe designed with the deeper side of theexcavation as the governing depth of thedesign to be used. In other words, atrench that is in type C soil, and is 8deep on the downhill side, but 10 deepon the uphill side, must be protectedfrom cave in according to the dimensionof the deeper side. If the design callsfor a trench box, the box must bedesigned for a 10 deep excavation.

If sloping is selected as the method ofprotection, care must be taken not to letgeography influence the trench design!The slopes must still be 1 1/2 :1 to satis-fy the standard for type C soil, or 1:1 fortype B soil. Lets use type C soil as anexample. To meet the requirements fortype C soil, an excavation next to or onthe side of a hill with the uphill sidedeeper than the downhill side, must stillhave the required 34-degree slope (11/2:1), measured from the inner edge of

the trench floor. Geography may dic-tate that the entire hill would have to beremoved to allow a safe excavation,according to the standard. If this is thecase, do not let economics dictate thatthe slope stops where the volume of dirtto be removed becomes too much to han-dle, and resort to a “quick fix” to avoidsloping properly to protect employees.

Such was the case in a recent tragicdeath. Rather than excavate to therequired 34 degree slope, and ratherthan design a trench shield system, orhave a soils engineer design an alterna-tive acceptable protective system, thecontractor designed a “quick fix” way oftrenching for this application, in theprocess creating a 35 foot high verticalwall of excavated dirt, which was adja-cent to the excavation and close enoughso that the tracked excavator was con-tacting the wall as it swiveled to movedirt from the trench. This 35-foot wall

of dirt created an imminent danger foremployees working in and around theexcavation at the base. The proof wasthe death of a laborer who was struck bysome 200 yards of dirt that dropped offthe excavated wall, striking the laborer,and burying him to a depth of about 10 .

Simply stated this tragedy could havebeen avoided. After the accident, thevertical wall of dirt was removed. Theresultant hill slope was reduced fromnear vertical, to a slope of about 34degrees. Pipe was installed at the baseof the hill without further incident.These protective measures should havebeen taken from the outset, not after afatal accident had occurred. Factorssuch as fill dirt, hillsides, spoils piles,and adjacent equipment must be consid-ered when designing protective systemsfor excavations. It may cost more to doso, but it will not be as costly as it will ifsomeone dies.

Buyer Beware!

Various regulatory agencies, includingADOSH, have statutes or rules requiringthat employers post certain informationin the workplace in areas visible toemployees. ADOSH has a safety andhealth information poster that isrequired to be posted in all places ofemployment. At times, we are contactedby individuals informing us of companieswho are trying to market these posters,often for exorbitant fees or underthreat of government penalty.

While private companies are free tomarket such posters (usually laminatedand in an “all-in-one” format) employersshould use caution when approached bycompanies who use threatening languageto market these products. The variousposters required by the regulatory agen-cies, including the ADOSH poster, canbe obtained free of charge by contact-ing the appropriate agency. Additionally,while we cannot speak for other regula-tory agencies, ADOSH would not levy amonetary penalty against an employerfor failing to post the ADOSH poster,except for repeat violators, or in situa-tions where an employer exhibits indif-ference to the safety and health of hisemployees, or the posting requirements.

This variance is very limited in scope andapplies only under the conditions of usenoted. Scaffolds erected upon anyother surface (other than a concreteslab or foundation) will require the useof base plates at all times. Additionally,mud sills or other firm foundation (i.e.,scaffold planks) may also be required,depending upon the type of surface uponwhich the base plates rest.

Variance on Scaffold BasePlates

Last year, Desert Masonry Company sub-mitted a request for permanent variancefrom the requirements of 29 CFR1926.451(c)(2). That standard states asfollows: “Supported scaffold poles, legs,posts, frames and uprights shall bear onbase plates and mud sills or other ade-quate firm foundation.” Desert Masonryrequested a variance from theserequirements, under certain conditionsof use. Those conditions were that thescaffold would be properly erected upona concrete slab or foundation and thatwhen so erected, the company would uti-lize a 6” x 6” piece of ½” plywood under-neath each scaffold leg, in lieu of a baseplate. At its meeting on February 27,2003, the Commission approved DesertMasonry s request and granted a perma-nent variance to them, as well as allother similarly situated employers.

Effective immediately, all Arizonaemployers who properly erect scaffold-ing on top of a level, concrete slab orfoundation may utilize a 6” x 6” piece of½ “ plywood underneath each scaffoldleg, in lieu of a base plate. Because theconcrete provides a firm foundation, nomud sills are required.

Did You Know?In confined spaces where gases maybe present, there are gases that arelighter than air and gases that areheavier than air. When conductingair monitoring for toxic gases, checkall areas within the confined space,including the bottom, top and at reg-ular intervals in between. Therecould be pockets of gas at any loca-tion, including off to the sides at thebottom and top outer edges. It isvery important to use a probe capa-ble of reaching all points of thespace.

ADOSH800 West WashingtonPhoenix, AZ. 85007

Fatalities Investigated by ADOSHJanuary 1, 2003 through March 31, 2003

. An employee was riding the top of an elevator to assess/make repairs at the top of the elevator shaft and was crushed between the ceiling and the ladder on which he was standing.

. An employee was crushed between the arm of a backhoe and an outrigger.

. An employee was crushed by thousands of pounds of bottled liquor when a storage rack collapsed.

. An employee was crushed by a rack of baked goods that he was unloading when the dock plate between the truck andloading dock collapsed.

Arizona s Newest VPP SiteADOSH recently welcomed BF Goodrichas Arizona s newest VPP STAR site. TheVoluntary Protection Program is a pro-gram that recognizes employers whohave an outstanding commitment toemployee safety and health, when com-pared with other employers in theirindustry.

The BF Goodrich facility, located in

Peoria, works with Turbine FuelTechnologies. Prior to approving BFGoodrich as a STAR participant, consult-ants from the Arizona Division ofOccupational Safety and Health con-ducted a thorough survey of the work-place to verify that employee safety andhealth represent a top priority for bothmanagement and employees. This priori-ty was evident during ADOSH s visit. BFGoodrich, together with the other ten

VPP STAR locations in Arizona, is anexcellent example of the type of stridesthat can be made in terms of employeesafety and health when both manage-ment and employees work together.

ADOSH presented BF Goodrich with aVPP STAR certificate and flag duringcelebration ceremonies on Friday, March7, 2003.