Under the General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act), employers are required to provide employees with a place of employment that “…is free from recognizable hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious harm to employees…” Accordingly, courts of law continue to interpret the OSHA General Duty Clause to mean that an employer, such as a contractor, owner or operator, bears a legal obligation to provide a workplace free of conditions or activities that either the employer or the industry at large recognize as hazardous and that cause, or are likely to cause, death or serious physical harm to employees when there is a feasible method to abate the hazard. As a result, the General Duty Clause of the OSH Act includes dangerous thunderstorm and lightning hazards that can cause, or are likely to cause, death or serious physical harm to employees in the field and on the jobsite.
OSHA prohibits work on scaffolds, crane hoists and work on top of walls during wind events!
Further, during high intensity wind events and wind gust events which frequently occur together with dangerous thunderstorms and lightning strikes, OSHA prohibits the following schedule activities, equipment operations, and work results: 1. work on or from scaffolds (29 CFR 1926.451(f)(12)); 2. crane hoists (29 CFR 1926.1431(k)(8)); and 3. work on top of walls (29 CFR 1926.854(c)). Work on scaffolds can only continue if a “qualified person” on site determines first that it is safe, and second that personal fall protection and / or wind screens are put in place. And, crane hoists can continue only if a “qualified person” determines that it is also safe. A qualified person is “…by possession of a recognized degree, certificate, or professional standing, or who by extensive knowledge, training and experience, has successfully demonstrated his ability to solve or resolve problems relating to the subject matter, the work, or the project.”
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