437-004-1610 General Requirements (1) Material storage. (a) Storage of material must not create a hazard. Stack, block or interlock stored items and limit their height so that they are stable and secure from sliding or collapse. (b) Storage areas must be free from accumulated materials that are tripping, fire or explosion hazards. (c) Pile foundations must support maximum loads without sinking, sagging, or tipping. (d) Storage of toxic, flammable, radioactive, or irritating substances must comply with other appropriate parts of the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Code. (e) Where mechanical handling equipment is in use, there must be safe clearance in aisles, at loading docks, through doorways and where turns are made. Aisles and passageways must be clear and in good repair. (f) Workers must not be under or near elevated loads and moving material unless they have adequate protection. (g) Block or crib loads suspended in slings or supported by hoists, jacks, or other devices, before allowing workers to be underneath them. (h) Do not drop or throw material from an elevation to other people. (i) Use tag lines or guide ropes when manual control is needed over swinging loads. (j) Load pallet boards, and trays so that the material is stable. (k) Stored material must not obstruct lights and fire extinguishing equipment, including sprinklers, aisles, exits, or electrical control panels. (l) When storing materials that could cause hazardous reactions, segregate and mark them with appropriate warning signs. (2) Stacks and piles. (a) All material stacks and piles must be on level and solid supports and be stable. (b) Use binding strips or cross ties when needed to stabilize stacks and piles. (3) Bricks and blocks. (a) Brick stacks must not be more than 7 feet high. When a loose brick stack reaches a height of 4 feet, cross tie it and taper it back 2 inches for every foot of height more than 4-foot. (b) When stacking masonry blocks more than 6 feet high, cross tie and taper them back one-half block per tier above the 6-foot level. (4) Lumber. (a) Remove all nails from used lumber before stacking it. (b) Lumber stacks must be no more than 1-1/2 times higher than the smallest dimension of the base. (5) Bagged materials. (a) Stack bagged materials by stepping back the layers and cross keying the bags at least every 10 bags high. NOTE: This requirement does not apply if pallets stabilize the stack of bagged materials. (b) When removing bags from a pile, keep the pile stable. (6) Pipe and bar stock. Take pipe and bar stock from the ends of unsecured piles not from the side. (7) Drums, rolls, cylindrical objects. (a) Barrels, drums, large pipe, rolls of paper, and other cylindrical objects piled on their sides must have blocks to hold the bottom row. Separators between rows of the pile, must have blocks at each end. (b) There must be spacing strips between bundles. (8) Equipment design and construction. (a) All equipment, structures, and accessories used for handling or storing materials must comply with sound engineering practices and the specifications and recommendations of the manufacturer. They must support the loads acting on them in addition to their own dead loads. Allow for wind, impact, erection and any special loadings that may occur. No combination of these loads may cause a stress on any part that exceeds the allowable stress for that part. (b) Do not exceed equipment manufacturer’s recommended safe load capacities. Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 654.025(2) & 656.726(3) Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 654.001 - 654.295 History: OSHA 4-1998, f. 8-28-98, cert. ef. 10-1-98