Since 1980, more than 130 workers have been killed and more than 780 injured in combustible dust explosions. OSHA is reminding workers and employers about the hazards of combustible dust and ways to avoid those hazards. OSHA is considering rulemaking to develop a combustible dust standard. On February 17, stakeholders participated in an informal meeting meant to seek information for the development of a protective and suitable standard.
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Victims of Paper Mill Explosion Had No Warning
Hot work is defined as any work activity that involves burning, welding, cutting, brazing, grinding, soldering, or similar spark-producing operations that can ignite a flammable atmosphere.
The CSB began investigating hot work hazards following an explosion that occurred on July 29, 2008, at the Packaging Corporation of America (PCA) corrugated cardboard mill in Tomahawk, Wisconsin, which killed three maintenance workers and injured another. The CSB determined the explosion resulted from welding above an 80-foot-tall storage tank that contained highly flammable hydrogen gas—the product of bacterial decomposition of organic fiber waste inside the tank.
At the time of the accident, PCA did not recognize waste fiber tanks as potentially hazardous or require combustible gas monitoring prior to welding nearby. PCA, which fully cooperated with the CSB investigation, subsequently developed new company standards requiring gas monitoring before any hot work.
“Hot work around flammable gas or vapor is one of the most common causes of worker deaths that we see at the Chemical Safety Board,” said CSB Board Member William B. Wark. “Tragically, most of these accidents are readily preventable with better hazard assessments, proper gas monitoring, and other straightforward safety measures.”
In the ten months following the explosion at Packaging Corporation, the CSB deployed investigators to five other sites where hot work ignited flammable gas or vapor, including an explosion at MAR Oil in La Rue, Ohio, that killed two contractors in October 2008; an explosion that killed one and injured another at EMC Used Oil in Miami, Florida, in December 2008; an explosion that killed a contract welder at ConAgra Foods in Boardman, Oregon, in February 2009; an explosion at A.V. Thomas Produce in Atwater, California, in March 2009 that severely burned two employees; and the explosion of a massive gasoline storage tank that killed three workers at a TEPPCO Partners fuel distribution facility in Garner, Arkansas, in May 2009.
The CSB also collected information from the Honolulu Fire Department about a fatal hot work explosion at a waste oil company in October 2008 and noted findings from previous major hot work explosions in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Florida, and Mississippi that were investigated by the CSB or the EPA.
“Companies need to develop comprehensive systems for controlling the hazards of hot work where flammable vapor could be present,” said CSB Investigations Supervisor Don Holmstrom, who led the investigations. “Regulators, companies, and workers should recognize that combustible gas monitoring will save lives. A common feature of virtually all these accidents is the failure to recognize all the locations where a flammable atmosphere could be present. The absence of flammables needs to be verified before and during any hot work.”
Combustible gas monitors are relatively inexpensive, handheld electronic instruments that measure the amount of flammable material in the atmosphere, expressed as a percentage of the lower explosive limit. Proper training and calibration are essential for using gas monitors effectively.
The safety bulletin, entitled “Seven Key Lessons to Prevent Worker Deaths During Hot Work In and Around Tanks,” notes that the CSB has identified over 60 fatalities since 1990 due to explosions and fires from hot work activities on tanks. Mr. Holmstrom said those accidents have continued to occur since May 2009, the date of the last explosion covered in the bulletin.
Industries where hot work explosions have occurred include food processing, pulp and paper manufacturing, oil production and recycling, waste treatment, and fuel storage and distribution.
“OSHA does not require combustible gas monitoring for hot work on or near flammable storage tanks,” said Mr. Holmstrom. “As our investigation continues, our team will be looking into this issue and we will comment on it in our final report.”
The CSB has previously produced two computer-animated safety videos on hot work accidents investigated by the CSB: “Death in the Oilfield,” about an explosion in Mississippi that killed three workers in 2006, and “Public Worker Safety,” concerning an explosion at a wastewater treatment plant in Daytona Beach, Florida, that killed two workers, also in 2006. The CSB distributes a two-DVD set of all CSB safety videos free of charge to anyone who orders them from the website.
A comprehensive safety video on the dangers of hot work—based on the new safety bulletin—is in production and is expected to be released within approximately a month, said CSB Director of Public Affairs Dr. Daniel Horowitz.
The CSB investigation of the explosion at Packaging Corporation of America remains ongoing; a final report with formal safety recommendations is expected later this year.
Workplaces with High Injury and Illness Rates in OSHA sights
OSHA has notified approximately 15,000 employers that injury and illness rates at their worksites are considerably higher than the national average. In a letter sent to those employers, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA David Michaels explained that the notification is an active step to encourage employers to act now to improve safety and health conditions in their workplaces.
OSHA Cites C.A. Franc $539,000 for Willful Fall Hazard Violations; Company Owner Pleads Guilty to Criminal Charges
OSHA fined the C.A. Franc construction company $539,000 following the investigation of a roofing worker who fell 40 feet to his death at a worksite. The Valencia, Pennsylvania-based roof installer, whose owner is Christopher A. Franc, was cited for 10 per instance willful citations for failing to protect workers from falls.
“Mr. Franc knowingly and willfully failed to protect his workers from falling to their death,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. “We will not tolerate this type of blatant and egregious disregard for the health and safety of workers.”
OSHA began its investigation immediately following the worker’s death on August 15, 2009, and found the C.A. Franc company had failed to provide any fall protection to its employees working on a pitched roof 40 feet off the ground. In addition, Mr. Franc failed to train a newly hired college student in hazards and the necessary safety measures for roofing work. As a result of the investigation, the company has been cited for 10 alleged per-instance willful violations, one for each employee working unprotected on the roof, with a proposed penalty of $490,000, and one additional alleged willful violation for failing to train the new employee, with a penalty of $49,000.
General contractor Hospitality Builders Inc. also has been cited with one willful violation and a proposed penalty of $70,000 for failing to ensure that C.A. Franc workers had fall protection.
“This fall fatality was one of five that occurred during a 15-day span in the Pittsburgh area,” said John M. Hermanson, OSHA’s regional administrator in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. “Falls are the leading cause of fatalities in the construction industry. Failure to provide employees with fall protection is unconscionable. We urge construction companies to take the necessary action to ensure their workers are protected.”
OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to employee safety and health.
In a related criminal charge, Christopher A. Franc entered a guilty plea in federal court to a violation of 29 U.S.C. Section 666(e). Sentencing is scheduled for June 18.
OSHA Proposes Nearly $59,000 in Fines Against Food Distribution Warehouse
OSHA has cited Bozzuto’s Inc., for 25 alleged violations of safety standards at its Cheshire, Connecticut, food distribution warehouse. The company faces a total of $58,750 in proposed fines.
“These citations address a cross section of mechanical, electrical and exit access hazards that exposed workers to the dangers of electric shock, lacerations, amputation, and being caught in operating machinery or unable to swiftly exit the workplace in the event of a fire or other emergency,” said Kang Yi, OSHA’s acting area director in Bridgeport. “It is imperative that the company take effective action to ensure that all such conditions are corrected and do not reoccur.”
OSHA’s inspection found workers unable to open emergency exit doors from inside the workplace; a lack of specific procedures to lock out the power sources for compactors and other machines to prevent their unintended startup during service or maintenance; unguarded grinder, table saw, compactor and other machinery; missing guardrails; no workplace hazard assessment to determine what types of personal protective equipment workers would need; a deficient respiratory protection program; unlabeled lifting slings; improperly stored oxygen cylinders; and several electrical hazards.
These conditions have resulted in OSHA issuing the company 20 serious citations with $55,750 in proposed fines. OSHA issues serious citations when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from hazards about which the employer knew or should have known. The company also has been issued five other-than-serious violations, with $3,000 in fines, chiefly for incomplete recording of injuries and illnesses.
Company Owner Guilty of Negligent Homicide in Worker Death
The owner of Buzzell Tree Service of East Kingston, New Hampshire, was found guilty, by a jury, of criminally negligent homicide for causing a 22-year-old worker’s death. The employer could face between three and seven years in prison. It is the first time in New Hampshire history that a jury found an employer guilty of criminally negligent homicide as a result of a death that did not involve a motor vehicle. The employer paid $12,000 in fines as part of a settlement agreement with OSHA for violating safety standards resulting in the worker’s death.
Daylight Saving Time to Begin Sunday, March 14, for Most Americans
Most of the nation will return to daylight saving time at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 14, when clocks will be set ahead one hour, providing an additional hour of daylight in the evening. Under law, daylight saving time is observed from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November, with the nation returning to standard time starting Sunday, November 7, 2010. Prior to legislation that took effect in 2007, daylight saving time was observed from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. Federal law does not require any area to observe daylight time, but those that do must follow the starting and ending dates set by the law. No resetting of clocks is required for those parts of the country not observing daylight time: Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Marianas.
Construction Contractor Fined $136,000 for Asbestos Hazards
OSHA has proposed $136,000 in fines against William A. Berry & Son Inc., a Danvers, Massachusetts, construction contractor, for 19 alleged violations of workplace health and safety standards while removing asbestos-containing material at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, last September.
“Asbestos is well recognized as a health hazard since inhalation of asbestos fibers may lead to lung cancer and other diseases,” said Brenda Gordon, OSHA’s area director for Boston and southeastern Massachusetts. “OSHA standards are designed to minimize the risk of exposure and its potential impact on workers’ health, but they are effective only so long as employers adhere to them.”
OSHA’s inspection found that Berry employees were removing laboratory ventilation hoods with asbestos-containing panels without proper respiratory protection and required safeguards to minimize exposure. Specifically, the contractor failed to conduct an initial asbestos exposure assessment and monitor the worksite daily for asbestos exposure, establish regulated work areas, provide protective clothing and a decontamination area, use HEPA vacuums to collect debris and clean workers’ clothing, label containers of asbestos-containing materials, train employees in asbestos work, and ensure that the site was inspected and the work overseen by a competent person. Several respirator-related deficiencies also were identified.
As a result, OSHA has issued William A. Berry & Son one willful citation, with a $55,000 fine, for not establishing a regulated work area and 17 serious citations, with $80,000 in fines, for the remaining items. The employer also has been issued one other-than-serious citation, with a $1,000 fine, for not providing OSHA injury and illness logs in a timely manner.
Brian Karnofsky Jailed for Muscular Dystrophy, Jailers Blocked Bail Website
Brian has been arrested and will be put in jail for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) lock-up. We need to collect $2,000 for the MDA to help bail him out. Your tax deductible donation will help MDA continue research into the causes and cures for 43 neuromuscular diseases.
If you enjoy reading the Safety Tip of the Week™, now is the time to help us give hope to kids and families that need our help. Brian’s jailers broke his website link, thinking that they could keep him in jail indefinitely. However, the website has been fixed.
Brian is the President of Environmental Resource Center. Many of you helped bail him out in 2007, 2008, and 2009, but he’s on his way back to jail this year. Don’t bother asking what crimes he’s committed—just know that we need your help bailing him out.
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