Fed-OSHA Warns on Hazards of Manually Lifting “Balloon Framed” Walls

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration cautions construction contractors about the potential for collapse when raising "balloon framed" walls. Fed-OSHA recently issued an informational bulletin following 22 collapses between July 1999 and July 2004 in which five employees died and 28 were injured, 16 of whom required hospitalization.Balloon framing is the placement of framed walls, generally more than 10 feet high, that "run the entire vertical length from the structu