EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH
APPEALS BOARD

Paramount Scaffold – decision after reconsideration

The employer, a scaffold company, erected a metal tubular scaffold at the site to a height of approximately 80 feet. At the uppermost floors the building face protruded about three feet out from the building. The employer was found in serious violation of sections 1644(a)(5)(A) and 1644(c)(5). Section 1644(a)(5)(A) required that the scaffold be tied to the building when the height of the scaffold exceed four times the least base dimension, in this case, 12-feet. The employer unsuccessfully argued that the division was required to prove that ties were not originally installed at the 12-foot level. Section 1644(c)(5) required scaffold frames to be placed one on top of the other. The employer used a cantilevered scaffold arrangement at the uppermost floors. Section 1644(c)(5) required stacking of the scaffold frames to maintain a vertical alignment. The employer unsuccessfully argued that that was impossible. The serious classification was not challenged in the petition for reconsideration and that issue was therefore waived.

Paramount Scaffold, 01-4564 (Word)
Paramount Scaffold, 01-4564 (Adobe Acrobat)

October 7, 2004