In reading this citation there are two phrases which I think get to the meat of what the person writing the citation intended:
Item 1: "The employer did not *require* a competent person to inspect....." Item 2: "...the employer did not *ensure* complete personal fall arrest systems were properly used". I've bolded what I consider the two most relevant words. The question I'd be asking is what policies were actually in place at the time of the accident, and what was the ramifications to the employee if they didn't follow them. Evidently providing safety gear isn't enough, the employer is responsible to make sure that employees actually use them. If you had policies in place that required the use of the gear, and took affirmative action when an employee was caught violating the policies, and have now re-verified that the gear met the requirements, I'd go back to OSHA and ask them, what you could have done differently considering you've done everything correctly. Go into it with the mindset that if you screwed up you're going to have to pay these fines (or at least what you can negotiate them down to), and that you really want to learn what you did to screw up. If the answer is that you did everything right, it will be hard for them to continue with the fines. If they find you did something wrong then talk to them about how to fix it. I've heard story after story like this (fortunately never had to deal with it myself), and it seems that a learning/compliant attitude goes a long way toward them being willing to drop or decrease the fines. I'm not saying to not correct incorrect information (such as the rohn 25 load rating), but instead to take what they say and try to understand whether or not you needed to make a correction. Be mindful that the people who work for OSHA have the job to make the workplace safer, and I'm sure that after a workplace death they feel like there should be something that could have been done differently. Hopefully they'll come to the realization that you were doing everything you should have been doing, and that you've also learned a couple things which you can do above and beyond that, and as a result, the fine is dropped or reduced significantly. On Wed, Jun 6, 2018 at 10:10 AM, David Sovereen <david.sover...@mercury.net> wrote: > Hi All, > > A little background: We had an employee die late last year. He climbed a > Rohn 25 tower at a residential customer location and did not use his fall > protection gear. He went through safe climb training at CITCA, his fall > protection gear was in his truck, and a co-worker with him told him to put > his harness on, but he exercised poor judgement and climbed without it > anyway. He slipped, fell approximately 30 feet, and was pronounced dead > about an hour later at the hospital. > > We received two OSHA Citations today. I’ve attached them. > > > > > I spoke with the OSHA representative handling our matter on Friday. He > tells me that Rohn 25s have not been tested by the manufacturer to support > 5,000 lbs and therefore are not a suitable anchor point for securing > oneself. He says all work on Rohn 25s must be done from a lift. I think > they are just trying to come up with reasons to fine us. > > When I went through safe tower climbing, *I* became the competent person > to identify where suitable anchor points, using the 5,000 lb estimation, > were. When my employees go through the training, they become competent in > determining where suitable anchor points are, do they not? > > If an employee is given instruction on the use of fall protection gear, > told to always use it, and exercises bad judgement and refuses to use it, > am I responsible? One of my employees was there and told him to put his > harness on and he refused. Consequently, that employee has gone through a > lot of turmoil putting himself through “what if” scenarios. > > Just looking for thoughts on this. Fight it, and if so what approach? > Pay it and make it go away? Something else? > > Thanks, > > *David Sovereen* > > Mercury Network Corporation > 2719 Ashman Street, Midland, MI 48640 > 989.837.3790 x151 office | 888.866.4638 toll free | 989.837.3780 fax > > Telephone * | *Internet* | *Security Alarm Monitoring > > david.sover...@mercury.net > www.mercury.net > > > > > -- *Forrest Christian* *CEO**, PacketFlux Technologies, Inc.* Tel: 406-449-3345 | Address: 3577 Countryside Road, Helena, MT 59602 forre...@imach.com | http://www.packetflux.com <http://www.linkedin.com/in/fwchristian> <http://facebook.com/packetflux> <http://twitter.com/@packetflux>
