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A summary of OSHA significant citations with proposed fines over $100,000 announced during the week ending December 1st.The following are based on a press releases from OSHA and other sources.
Mississippi Phosphates cited by OSHA following two deaths ($165,900)
OSHA cites Jersey City, NJ, warehouse company for fall and other safety hazards ($130,900)
Well known Bronx Commercial bakery cited for 26 violations ($118,000)
Bristol, CT, metal stamping plant cited for 30 serious safety violations, ($139,000)
Dover Chemical Co. cited for 47 violations following chemical release ($545,000)
OSHA has cited Mississippi Phosphates Corp. with 40 safety and health violations following the deaths of two workers in separate incidents at the company's Pascagoula facilities. The fatalities led to comprehensive inspections by OSHA.
On May 22, an operator attempting to start up a steam turbine in the No. 2 sulfuric acid plant was struck by flying metal debris when the turbine housing ruptured due to apparent overpressurization. In a similar incident on June 1, an operator restarting a tripped steam turbine in sulfuric acid plant No. 3 also was killed by flying metal debris when the turbine housing ruptured due to overpressurization.
Mississippi Phosphates has issued a press release in which they state: "MPC has cooperated fully with OSHA, which conducted a broad, site-wide inspection over several months. Following the accidents, MPC voluntarily shut down its facility for more than two weeks, closely examining - and improving wherever possible - its safety and training procedures."
"While the OSHA inspectors were on site, recommendations were made and MPC diligently addressed them in a timely manner. MPC has completed the vast majority of the items noted during the inspection and has a plan to complete them all."
OSHA has cited the company for three serious safety violations related to the fatalities, including exposing workers to "struck-by" hazards by not protecting them against overpressurization, and failing to maintain and service equipment in accordance with the company's maintenance program to prevent overpressurization.
An additional 23 serious safety violations included failing to:
- test and inspect pressure relief devices throughout the facility
- provide handrails on fixed stairways
- guard floor holes that could cause workers to trip and fall
- provide fixed stairs to access tank gauging
- address engineering controls during a process hazard analysis
- guard belt roller nip points, horizontal shafts, rotating shafts and horizontal V-belts
- various electrical hazards such as exposing workers to shocks, missing panel knockouts, broken face plates, unguarded light bulbs and an open ground in an outlet circuit
- conduct an initial process hazard analysis
- update the process hazard analysis every five years
- conduct compliance audits for process safety management
- determine the presence of asbestos prior to working on equipment
- label hazardous substances such as caustic soda, acid and petroleum products that are used throughout the facility
Three other-than-serious safety violations were:
- failing to mount a fire extinguisher so it was readily available
- not labeling circuit breakers
- using flexible cords and equipment cables that did not have strain relief
Mississippi Phosphates is a producer and marketer of diammonium phosphate, which is used as a fertilizer. The company's manufacturing facilities consist of two sulfuric acid plants, a phosphoric acid plant and diammonium phosphate granulation plant.
The citations for the serious and repeat violations carry total proposed penalties of $165,900. The citations for the other-than-serious violations do not carry monetary penalties. All citations can be viewed at
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/Mississippi_Phosphates_Corp_491760
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/Mississippi_Phosphates_Corp_439251
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/Mississippi_Phosphates_Corp_506258
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/Mississippi_Phosphates_Corp_452057
The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
OSHA has cited Continental Terminals Inc. for nine serious and two willful safety violations at the company's Jersey City facility.
Inspectors were notified of alleged hazards at the facility while they were inspecting another Continental facility in Kearny. Proposed penalties total $130,900.
The willful violations involve:
- not protecting workers by allowing them to ride on the forks of forklifts, where they were exposed to falls of 10 feet
- permitting work on elevated platforms devoid of guardrails
The serious violations include:
- having exit doors that were sealed shut
- allowing damaged powered industrial trucks to be operated
- stacking materials insecurely
- not having a hazard communication program
- using damaged electrical cords
- not labeling electrical panels
The citations can be viewed at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/Continental.
Continental Terminals Inc. is a coffee and cocoa warehouse business that employs 10 workers at its Jersey City site; it was recently fined $162,400 by OSHA for safety violations at its Kearny site.
Zaro Bake Shop Inc., a commercial bakery in the Bronx, has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 26 serious violations of workplace safety and health standards. OSHA initiated inspections in April in response to a complaint, and is proposing $118,000 in fines.
A safety inspection by OSHA's Tarrytown Area Office found 20 violations, including:
- inadequate guarding of moving machine parts
- a lack of lockout/tagout procedures to prevent machines from starting up while workers service them
- slippery and uneven floors
- various electrical, fall and exit access hazards
A health inspection found six violations involving:
- combustible dust hazards
- not providing eye protection for employees working around corrosive materials
- a lack of eyewash stations for workers exposed to hazardous chemicals
- failure to develop and implement a written hazard communication program
- failure to provide information and training on hazardous chemicals to workers
The citations can be viewed at Citations -Zaro and Citations - ZaroSft.
Read more about this citation in the New York Daily News
OSHA has cited Associated Spring-Barnes Group Inc. for 30 alleged serious violations of workplace safety standards at the company's Bristol metal stamping plant. The company faces a total of $139,000 in proposed fines for electrical, mechanical, exit access, fall and combustible dust hazards identified during an inspection by OSHA's Hartford Area Office.
Specifically, OSHA found that:
- combustible dust was allowed to accumulate
- two of the plant's dust collection systems lacked controls to prevent or suppress fires and explosions
- ?three emergency exit routes led through areas where the dust collection systems would vent if a fire occurred.?
- a variety of machine guarding, electrical and fall hazards
- damaged protective gloves
- an improperly stored container of combustible liquid
- did not provide an emergency eyewash
- did not provide refitted hearing protection for employees who sustained a standard threshold shift in their hearing
- there was no fire extinguisher in an area where combustible aluminum is cut
The citations can be viewed at: Associated Spring Barnes Group
Associated Spring-Barnes Group has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet informally with OSHA's area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
OSHA has cited Dover Chemical Co. for 47 health and safety ? including four willful ? violations after an unexpected release of hazardous materials led to the temporary shutdown of the company's Dover plant and an adjacent highway last May. Although no injuries were reported as a result of the incident, OSHA opened an investigation focused on the agency's standards for process safety management, known as PSM, at facilities that use highly hazardous chemicals. Proposed fines total $545,000.
The release of materials resulted from a breach of a polyvinyl chloride piping system. Due to the nature of the hazards and the willful violations cited, Dover Chemical has been placed in OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which mandates targeted follow-up inspections to ensure compliance with the law.
Dover Chemical has released a statement which says: "Dover has been conducting internal safety audits and working with outside experts for several years to insure that the processes conducted at its facilities are safe.? Prior to receiving these citations, Dover had already resolved many action items identified during its most recent safety inspections, has already abated some items contained in the citations, and is in the process of addressing other safety-related issues."
You can read the complete Dover Chemical Company press release here.
The OSHA press release reports that the willful violations all relate to PSM, and include:
- failing to correct deficiencies found in compliance audits
- not resolving recommendations identified during a process hazard analysis
- having operating procedures that do not include the consequences for deviation or the steps required to correct or avoid deviation from operating limits
- process safety information that does not detail the construction materials used for piping and piping system components.
Thirty serious violations also relate to PSM, and include:
- inaccurate operating procedures
- inadequate information about the hazardous effects of inadvertently mixing different chemicals, safe upper and lower limits for operating parameters, and the lack of chemical reactivity data
- failing to include system design codes and standards
- not training employees about PSM
- not documenting that equipment complies with recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices
- not performing inspections and tests on process equipment
- not correcting deficiencies noted during equipment inspections
- unguarded wall and floor openings
- failing to test aerial lift controls prior to use
- allowing untrained individuals to operate lifts
- not developing energy control procedures for the maintenance and servicing of equipment, and electrical hazards
The Dover facility employs about 175 workers and produces chlorinated paraffins; additives for flame-resistant products; and other additives for the plastic, rubber coating, adhesive and textile product industries. The facility has been inspected by OSHA four other times since 2007, resulting in earlier citations for four violations. A subsidiary of New York-based ICC Industries Inc., Dover Chemical Co. also operates a facility in Hammond, Ind., that uses similar procedures and employs 86 workers.
The current citations may be viewed at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/Dover_Chemical_Corporation_451379_1126_12.PDF.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Related Past Posts:Significant OSHA Citations - Week Ending November 24th
Significant OSHA Citation - Week Ending November 17th
Summary of Significant OSHA Citations - Week Ending November 10th
Labels: guarding, labeling, LOTO, OSHA Citations, PPE
Source: http://blog.safe-workplace.com/2012/12/significant-osha-citations-week-ending.html
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