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          Shipping Stevedoring Port Services Hydrocarbons Diving  Jul-Aug 2008 
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ILWU vows to fight 'piggybacking'US poised to okay tandem lifting27 November 2003
The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposes giving the nod to cranes hoisting two containers locked together at one time from a ship or dock. OSHA claims that two loaded containers of up to 20 tons can be safely lifted.
Up to this point, only empty containers have been lifted in tandem and we have documented evidence that the practice is dangerous and potentially deadly to the working men and women on the docks. ILWU President James Spinosa speculates that the PMA is behind these latest rules that would put the lives of his members at risk, and has vowed to resist any effort by employers to institute vertical tandem lifts or "piggybacking." "We will not be complicit in endangering the lives of the ILWU family," Spinosa said. OSHA insists that twistlocks are strong enough to lock these containers together and can withstand the lift. However, twistlocks are not designed to lift containers. They are designed to secure containers on a vessel. In contrast, container beam twistlocks are designed to hoist containers. They are machined from a block of high grade steel and are tested, certified and subject to periodic inspection and re-certification. The twistlocks OSHA is now blessing are predominantly manufactured from cast parts, using metal considerably inferior to that utilized in container beam twistlocks. Almost all of these twistlocks have a considerably smaller beaming surface than that of twistlocks on container beams precisely because they were not designed as lifting devices. OSHA has based its rule partially on strength and durability tests of the locks conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Their study found that the locks met their (questionable) standards but also indicated the "container corner castings were more likely to deform and fail" than the twistlocks. In other words, we may see a tragic accident because the integrity of the container is compromised on top of the risks posed by the twistlocks. Sea-Land, which later became Maersk Sealand, has been a primary advocate of vertical tandem lifts. Yet in the short time the company has been performing vertical tandem lifts, Sea-Land acknowledges three accidents. That many accidents out of 300,000 picks performed constitute a horrible safety record. Fortunately, no workers were killed in these terrible accidents. During one Sea-Land lift, the crane legs did not have sufficient clearance for vertical tandem lifts and the containers struck the crane legs, causing the lower container to separate and fall. Sea-Land blamed the accident on the crane driver and his supervisor. Instead of taking responsibility for authorizing such a dangerous operation, they fingered the workers and disciplined them. In the second accident, two containers "alligatored" without completely separating when the two twistlocks on one end were not engaged in the top corner castings of the bottom container. Sea-Land responded by saying it was going to start performing pre-lift tests--lifting two containers in the air a few feet to ensure that the twist locks are engaged in the corner castings. Sea-Land did know or should have known that a pre-test was necessary to enhance safety in the beginning. However, even lifting the two containers a few feet in the air endangers the lashers on board the vessel. A third accident occurred in ILWU jurisdiction. Longshore workers in Honolulu, Hawaii were performing a vertical tandem lift while loading the vessel "Sealand Spirit" Nov. 11, 1997. The crane operator hoisted a tandem lift to the required height to trolley toward the ship when the containers separated in mid-air and the lower container crashed to the dock. Longshore workers who investigated this accident were unable to account for the mid-air separation and stated that, prior to the hoist, "everything looked normal." Twistlock failure is suspected to be the source of the accident. ILWU Local 142 in Honolulu has also informed us, "There have been other incidents concerning these doubles. Several times when the crane begins to pick up these doubles, sometimes only two or three of the cones have been locked. The operator then has to slam the container back down to activate the locking cone, showing that the cones are not maintained and not consistent in always locking." Again, it was fortunate that no worker was killed or injured in the accident. OSHA suspects it was the spring-loaded latch locks, fouled with dirt and debris, that failed. OSHA responded by banning the use of spring-loaded locks when performing vertical tandem lifts. But it leaves the question open as to the likelihood that other kinds of locks will be compromised by dirt and debris, or the container casting will be fouled and a tragic accident occurs. On the Coast the ILWU has always been more than wary of vertical tandem lifts. In the Port of Seattle when there is an equipment malfunction with locking cones and two containers cannot be separated, it is treated as an emergency safety situation. The crane is operated in slow mode and all workers under the crane vacate the area until the containers are safely at rest. Maersk Sealand, Matson and other employers have been trying for decades to get OSHA to relax their rules concerning vertical tandem lifts. It appears that they may have taken a different tack this time--lobbying international organizations such as the International Organization for Standardization and the International Labor Organization to put international standards in place that would jeopardize the lives of longshore workers worldwide. Once our employers bullied their way through the international organizations, it was just a matter of time before our government harmonized the standards--downward. OSHA admits in its rule-making that it developed this proposal in light of international considerations. Through domestic law and international agreements, the U.S. has indicated its intention that wherever possible, standards-related activities should not be a barrier to trade. OSHA relied on the Trade Agreements Act in considering this proposal which states in Section 2532 that "no federal agency may engage in any standards-related activity that creates unnecessary obstacles to the foreign commerce of the United States." ILWU members have good reason to be suspicious of international trade agreements because multinational corporations are gaming the system and creating a race to the bottom in all aspects of our lives. In this case, it appears these corporations have used international agreements to diminish safety and health standards for U.S. workers. What makes the OSHA proposal so outrageous is the fact that it insists that two loaded containers weighing up to 20 tons can safely be hoisted. Prior to now, OSHA has permitted, in limited circumstances, empty containers to be lifted in tandem. More than 100,000 picks or lifts of single containers are made each day in the U.S. Despite these high numbers of lifts, dropped containers are an extremely rare event. In contrast, Sea-Land's three accidents in 300,000 vertical tandem lifts over the last decade translate into approximately one accident per day in the country. This piggy-backing or vertical tandem lifting is obviously dangerous and it needs to be prohibited, not expanded. Yet OSHA is even accepting comments to ascertain whether three containers can be locked together and hoisted. It appears that OSHA is allowing corporate greed and its push for increased productivity to prevail at the expense of safety--at least for now. The ILWU Longshore Safety Committee is working on this issue and will soon represent the union at safety meetings in Washington, D.C. The politicians in Washington are beginning to hear about this outrageous proposal. You can help save lives by contacting your Senators and member of Congress and asking them to vigorously oppose OSHA's proposal. In this case, lives are at stake, and members of Congress need to hear from you.
For further information
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