Wednesday, August 3, 2016

COUNTY: WE DON'T NEED NO STINKING SAFETY HARNESSES

(Ed.'s Note: Folks visiting downtown Brownsville are getting used to seeing Cameron County Maintenance Dept. employees working to get the old Wells Fargo Bank Building at 835 E. Levee ready to house several county departments, including, we hear, the three existing Justices of the Peace offices now housed on Harrison St. At any one time, county employees are inside sprucing up the place, or on the roofs weatherizing them and plugging leaks. Today a crew of workers labored at the very top of the building, some 80 feet above ground. And a pedestrian with a camera who was passing by sent us this photo of a half-dozen workers laboring under the hot sun and wind without the benefit of safety harnesses. OSHA requires that workers above six feet must wear safety belt (harnesses). The height of the six-story bank building is listed at 72 feet, but once you add in the platform for the communication towers above and the fact that there is no safety rail or ledges, safety harnesses are definitely required. Below is a starter quiz for our county administrators and supervisors from the OSHA manual. At $180,000 a year paid to Administrator David Garcia, we would think it would be something he would know from top to bottom.


1. Workers in the construction industry, who are working on surfaces with unprotected sides or edges which are ______ or more above the lower level, must be protected from falls by their employer.
a. 3 feet 
b. 6 feet 
c. 9 feet 
ANSWER: Six feet is the general rule for the Construction Industry, i.e. it’s the threshold when no specific rule applies. (No fall protection is required until 10 feet when working on scaffolds.) NOTE: Fall protection must be provided regardless of height if you’re working above sharp objects (like exposed ends of rebars for concrete) or working above dangerous equipment (that you wouldn’t want to fall into).   

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brownsville has Mexico standards in all aspects of life. In mexico it is easier to replace workers rather than follow basic safety standards.

Anonymous said...

The men don't wear safety gear, but let one of them be injured and they will surely be ready to sue and ambulance chasing lawyers will be eager to represent them; for a large fraction of any monetary reward. We need more safety harnesses and less lawyers in our lives. My guess is that one of those workers is the supervisor...who is obviously a poor supervisor and surely not a leader of men.

Unknown said...

Reminds me of back in the day when some 30 years ago I hired a local roofing company to re-shingle the Bolack-Fernandez home E. Washington. There was safety equipment, a rope secured to the chimney and tied around the roofers waist. I don't know what OSHA required then but the roofer knew that he needed something to protect his crew.

Anonymous said...

A few years ago in Panama City, Panama I was a little surprised to see the construction crew on a multi-story building all wore safety harnesses, even those working away from the edge. If Central America is third world we must be fourth world, at least in regard to worker safety.

Anonymous said...

DAVID GARCIA TIENE LOS DIAS CONTADOS TREVINO LE BA ADAR AIRE JUAN

Anonymous said...

don't know where to post this, find it interesting, in some places profiling seems to work.
http://valortamaulipeco.blogspot.com/2016/08/federales-detienen-dos-iranies-en.html?m=1

Anonymous said...

"Todos ustedes son una bola de pendejos."

- Comision Nacional de Soberanas Palizas

Anonymous said...

Double Yawn....

rita