Oregon OSHA cited a company that provides waste collection, recycling, and disposal services $2,766 for a serious violation of a rule related to equipment design and construction.
The rule (OAR 437-002-0221(13)(d)) states that loads suspended in slings or supported by hoists, jacks, or other devices must be blocked or cribbed before workers are allowed to work underneath them.
Oregon OSHA issued the citation after an investigation of an incident in which an employee’s hand was crushed. The incident occurred during work to unload containers from rail cars at a site in eastern Oregon.
How did the incident happen?
The employee whose hand was seriously injured was working as part of a three-person team – two laborers and a top-loader operator – to unload containers from rail cars. The employee, stationed on a rail car at the opposite end from the other laborer, was assigned to remove locks from the corners of the container at her end. The locks had held the stacked containers together during transit.
As the top-loader operator lifted the container, the employee noticed one of the locks was hung up in the receiver slot under the upper container. She reached under the raised container to free and grab the lock. At that time, the top-loader operator lowered the container a little. The employee thought the operator’s maneuver was to help her with the lock. But she was unaware that the lock on the opposite side of the container had not released at all and that the operator’s maneuver was to address that issue. Before she had time to react, her hand was crushed between the containers. Crew members reacted and freed her hand.
What did Oregon OSHA’s inspection find?
Oregon OSHA’s investigative work included visiting the facility, observing how rail cars with stacked containers were unloaded, conducting interviews, reviewing operational procedures, and watching a training video provided by the company. Oregon OSHA determined “that in all of the processes employees were told to use that blocking or cribbing should have been in place to protect the employees,” according to the inspection.