Occupational Safety Health Administration checked on double-stacked flat racks

A US COURT has ruled the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) may regulate "vertical tandem lifts" (VTLs) of double stacked containers or flat racks, but not in the way that would make unloading ships unfeasible, reports American Shipper.

Said the court: "If that occurs, a domestic marine terminal operator must either lift the platform containers as a unit - and thus violate the standard - or leave the containers - and any containers beneath them - onboard."


The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a plea from the National Maritime Safety Association (NMSA) that some OSHA rules on vertical tandem lifts were not feasible, and if upheld, it would impose a ban on lifting. It told the agency to back off or devise more workable rules.


The NMSA is an employers federation, whose members include Pacific Maritime Association, United States Maritime Alliance and New York Shipping Association, which negotiate contracts with dockers in the US and Canada.


But the court overruled other NMSA objections to OSHA regulations, saying the agency had established significant risk. OSHA said tandem lifts had been operated a million times since 1986 without injury, but there had been nine close calls when containers were separated during vertical tandem lifts.


Dockers and box makers testified that connectors between the corner castings of containers, when lifted in tandem, can detach or not be attached from the start.


The court said inspecting such connections when moving boxes from a terminal to the ship was feasible, doing so in the other direction was not. The employers said it would not be safe but inspect containers that are "in a stack between other containers sitting 80 feet above the ship`s deck and twice that distance above the water and dock," exposing dockers to the risk of a fall.


The court disagreed with the NMSA that a safe work zone around container operations adequately protected employees.


Said the court: "While the safe work zone protects employees on the ground, it does not necessarily protect the crane operator who moves the containers. If a container were to separate during a VTL, the separation could jar the crane and injure the operator."