Review the Case Study presented below. After reviewing the Case Study, use the OSHA Construction Standards for Cranes and Derricks (Subpart CC) and steel erection (Subpart R) to prepare a list of regulations that are likely to be cited by the OSHA compliance officer investigating this incident. Make sure to provide the regulatory citation (e.g., 1926.1402(a)), the text of the regulatory citation, and why you believe that the particular regulation might be cited in this case. Include the likely causes of the fatality as well.

Incident Summary

A steel erection firm was contracted by a large general contracting firm to erect the structural steel for a large warehouse. The steel erection firm rented a crane with an operator to perform the lifting involved in placing the structural steel members for connecting by their employees (ironworkers). Work proceeded for the first four days of the project without incident. On the fifth day, two ironworkers fell to their deaths after the boom of the crane grazed the loosely connected structural steel, and the structural steel frame collapsed. The investigation report prepared by OSHA contained the following findings:

• The steelworkers were wearing personal fall arrest systems consisting of a full-body harness and 6-foot long lanyard with shock absorber. They had temporarily gotten out of the man lift that they were working from as they connected the joists to the steel frame and were standing on and anchored to the steel joists. A fall protection plan or approval to anchor to the joists was not in place. The height of the steel joists from the ground was 15 feet.
• The crane operator was the only person on-site from the crane company. The crane had been inspected before work on the day of the accident and had three months of monthly inspections in the cab of the crane. A third-party inspection sticker was on the door of the cranes cab but had recently expired.
• The signal person (that was signaling the crane operator) gave the operator the wrong signal which caused the operator to boom down instead of lower the load. The signal person readily admitted that he was unsure about the signals he was giving. There was no documentation on site of the signal persons training, and records of training could not be produced by his employer (although the employer and the signal person both indicated that training had taken place).
• After reviewing the accident scene and interviewing witnesses, the OSHA Compliance Officer discovered that a bundle of steel decking had been placed on steel joists adjacent to where the steelworkers were working before all of the bridgings had been installed and anchored and that several joist ends were loosely attached. This condition contributed to the ease with which the structural steel collapsed when the crane boom grazed the steelwork. No determination was found on file for whether the structural steel, as erected, was capable of supporting the load of the decking (4,500 lbs).
• A review of the steel workers training records revealed that no fall hazard training or training in connector procedures had been conducted by their employer.

This was all the information that we were given.