Date: June 25, 1990  
                                                        Info Alert # 1  
  
  
                           INFORMATION ALERT  
  
  
HAZARD SUMMARY:  FATALITY - BUMPER JACK FAILURE  
  
  A worker was killed when an old 1.5 ton air-operated bumper jack  
  model J-196, manufactured by Walker Manufacturing Company, Galt,  
  Ontario, failed at four welds at the bumper attachment.  The worker  
  used the jack to lift the front end of an automobile without a  
  secondary means of support.  Similar jacks were manufactured between  
  1957 and 1963, weigh about 163 lbs., and have a height range of  
  8 3/4" to 36 1/2".  
  
  
LOCATION(S) AND SECTOR(S) WHERE HAZARD MAY BE ENCOUNTERED  
  
  Body and paint shops, service stations, car and truck dealerships.  
  
  
APPLICABLE SECTION(S) OF INDUSTRIAL REGULATIONS  
  
  This fatality could have been prevented if a secondary means of  
  support (e.g. axle stands) had been used as required under section  
  78 of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments.  Section 78  
  states:  
  
     "Machinery, equipment or material that is temporarily elevated  
     and under which a worker may pass or work shall be securely and  
     solidly blocked to prevent the machinery, equipment or material  
     from falling or moving."  
  
  Further, proper inspection and maintenance of this equipment as  
  required section 55(1) could have prevented the bumper jack failure.  
  Section 55(1) states that:  
  
     "A lifting device shall,  
  
      (a)  be so constructed, of such strength....to adequately ensure  
           the safety of all workers;  
  
      (b)  be thoroughly examined by a competent person to determine  
           its capacity of handling the maximum load as rated,  
  
           (i)   prior to being used for the first time, and  
           (ii)  thereafter as often as necessary but not less  
                 frequently than recommended by the manufacturer  
                 and in any case, at least once a year, and a  
                 permanent record shall be kept, signed by the  
                 competent person doing the examination;...."  
  
  
NOTE:  "Information Alert" is produced by the Industrial Health and  
       Safety Branch, Ministry of Labour for use by Ministry  
       inspectors, health and safety associations and other interested  
       groups or individuals in Ontario.  The goal of this publication  
       is to communicate hazard information as soon as it becomes  
       available to prevent serious injury to workers.  Reproduction  
       and use of these alerts is encouraged.