Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and OSHA interim administrator Jordan Barab have said that a new combustible dust regulation is one of their rulemaking priorities at OSHA. And the rulemaking process is moving along. OSHA has submitted the proposed regulation to the Office of Management and Budget for review.
This news comes in the wake of the Chemical Safety Board’s recent release of its investigation into the explosion and fire that killed 14 and injured 36 at the Imperial Sugar plant in Wentworth, GA.
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) completed a study of combustible dust hazards in late 2006, which identified 281 combustible dust incidents between 1980 and 2005 that killed 119 workers and injured 718.
The CSB recommended that OSHA pursue rulemaking on this issue. While a number of OSHA standards address aspects of this risk, the Agency does not have a comprehensive standard.
OSHA has published a Safety and Health Information Bulletin, “Combustible Dust in Industry: Preventing and Mitigating the Effects of Fire and Explosions,” and has implemented a Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program (NEP). OSHA will use information gathered from the NEP as it considers future rulemaking on combustible dust hazards.
A number of OSHA standards address aspects of combustible dust control, including those on housekeeping, emergency action plans, ventilation, spray finishing, permit required confined spaces and electric power generation.
U.S. Labor Department’s OSHA proposes more than $576,000 in penalties against Sims Bark and Sims Stone for 142 safety and health violations. Enforcement action has targeted several plants in Alabama, Georgia and MississippiOSHA is proposing $576,750 in penalties against Sims Bark Co. and Sims Stone Co. for 142 workplace safety and health violations.
The agency is proposing 20 violations and $94,400 in penalties for the company’s bark plant in Brent, Ala.; 59 violations and $260,900 in penalties for the bark and stone plants in Tuscumbia, Ala.; 49 violations and $142,350 in penalties for the bark and stone plants in Woodbury, Ga.; and 14 violations and $79,100 in penalties for the Olive Branch, Miss., bark plant. Inspections began after OSHA received a complaint and determined that similar hazards might exist at other locations of the two companies.
Willful citations are being issued against the Brent, Tuscumbia and Olive Branch bark plants and the Tuscumbia stone plant for allowing workers to service, unjam and clean machinery without procedures to ensure that workers won’t be caught in or struck by equipment or burned by machines’ heat strips. In addition, Tuscumbia bark plant employees worked without needed fall protection. At the Woodbury bark plant, workers who operated a machine with an unenclosed belt were exposed to dangers associated with being caught in the fast moving machinery.
Serious citations are being issued against all of the plants, including the Woodbury stone plant. Identified hazards involve lack of employee training, exposure to electric shocks, lack of fall protection, lack of machine guards, exposure to noise hazards, struck-by dangers and accumulations of combustible dust. The agency is issuing other-than-serious violations against all of the locations for failing to keep workplace injury logs according to OSHA rules.
“Sims Bark and Sims Stone management have displayed a systemic indifference to the safety and health of their own employees, resulting in a dangerous work environment,” said Cindy Coe, OSHA’s regional administrator in Atlanta.
WASHINGTON - Hazard Communication Guidance for Combustible Dusts(PDF) is a new guidance document recently published by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that is intended to assist chemical manufacturers and importers in recognizing the potential for dust explosions, identifying appropriate protective measures and the requirements for disseminating this information on material safety data sheets and labels.
OSHA goes on to state that combustible dusts are solids finely ground into fine particles, fibers, chips, chunks or flakes that can cause a fire or explosion when suspended in air under certain conditions. Types of dusts include metal (aluminum and magnesium), wood, plastic or rubber, biosolids, coal, organic (such as flour, sugar and paper, among others), and dusts from certain textiles.
The document addresses the combustible dust hazards in relation to the Hazard Communication Standard, which is designed to ensure that chemical hazards are evaluated and the information concerning them is transmitted to employers and workers.
“Recent events have shown the devastation of combustible dust explosions resulting in worker loss of life and injuries,” said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab. “This guidance document is a useful resource to prevent potentially catastrophic events.”
OSHA has proposed more than $1.1 million in penalties to Milk Specialties Co.
OSHA has cited Milk Specialties Co. in Whitehall with numerous violations of the OSHA standards and proposed $1,145,200 in penalties. OSHA began a December 2008 inspection in response to a complaint alleging a variety of safety hazards at the company’s whey processing plant. Willful citations have been issued for the employer’s failure to comply with OSHA’s confined space entry and Lockout/Tagout requirements. Untrained employees entered confined spaces and performed maintenance and cleaning on powered equipment without protection from various hazards. Proposed penalties for the 17 willful violations total $1,071,000. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health.
“I am committed to ensuring workers return home to their families safe and healthy at the end of every shift,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “Employers must fully address hazards, properly train their employees and plan their work in a safe manner.”
Seventeen serious citations, with proposed penalties totaling $52,400, include combustible dust and electrical hazards; lack of exit route lighting and signage; lack of confined space evaluations; uninspected fire extinguishers; and untrained and uncertified powered industrial truck operators, among other issues.
Four repeat violations with penalties totaling $21,800 address the guarding of floor and wall openings, ladders and respiratory protection, and other issues addressed in previous inspections of this company. OSHA issues a repeat citation when it finds an employer’s violation is substantially similar to a previously cited condition that was affirmed as a violation through a final order of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Milk Specialties has been inspected by OSHA 15 times since 1974, including four inspections in Wisconsin between 2006 and 2008, with citations resulting from many of the same safety and health hazards cited in the most recent inspection.
The company engages in the research, development and manufacture of protein and fat products for nutritional applications and feeding regimes that include products such as pasteurized milk extenders, spray-dried protein encapsulated fats, dried whey permeates, and condensed whey and liquid whey products.
OSHA announced today that over the last 16 months, compliance officers from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have made 104 visits to Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama companies where employees may be exposed to potential combustible dust hazards.
The result has been 667 citations for workplace safety and health violations; an average of 6.4 citations per visit. OSHA states that 87 percent of these citations were categorized as willful, serious, repeat or failure to abate.
The visits are part of the agency’s ongoing National Emphasis Program (NEP) to reduce employees’ exposure to combustible dust hazards. Nationally, 3,662 violations have been identified during 813 inspections, an average of 4.5 citations per visit. Housekeeping, hazard communication, personal protective equipment, electrical and general duty clause violations are cited most frequently as a result of these inspections.“Any company that has combustible dust, or thinks that they may have combustible dust, needs to intensify housekeeping, review hot work processes, evaluate electrical equipment for possible Class II locations, prohibit smoking or flames in dust laden areas, ensure that relief venting on dust collection systems releases the dust to a safe location, and develop and/or review an emergency action plan,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Cindy Coe.
Dust fires and explosions can pose significant dangers in the workplace and can occur when five different factors are present. The five factors are oxygen, an ignition source (heat, an electrical spark or a spark from metal machinery), fuel (dust), dispersion of the dust and confinement of the dust. These five factors are referred to as the “Dust Explosion Pentagon.” If any one of these factors is removed or is missing, an explosion cannot occur.
Industries affected by the emphasis program include: agriculture, chemical, textile, forest products, furniture products, wastewater treatment, metal processing, paper processing, pharmaceutical and metal, paper and plastic recycling.
We encourage employers who have questions or need assistance with any combustible dust issue to contact us at (502) 240-6910 to discuss your needs.
More often than not in the course of conversation about my beloved profession the question comes up these days about OSHA , safety, and where it is all headed under the new administration. I have come to the conclusion that my answer is “we are on the verge of a Perfect Storm”. Let me put the factors in motion for you. When the actual Perfect Storm occurred around Halloween of 1991 it was a culmination of three significant weather related events. These events were a low pressure system, a Hurricane, and a high pressure system. I am seeing the same thing today with what is going on with OSHA.
The Low Pressure System - The life cycle of OSHA:
In it’s heyday of the 70’s the agency was new and aggressive and grew to its peak in the Carter administration with almost a “crazed activist” demeanor. During both terms of Reagan and the George H.W. Bush term the agency was still powerful and responsible for such new regulations as Hazard Communication, Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout), Respiratory Protection, and several others.
It wasn’t until the two terms of the Clinton administration that we saw the agency begin to mellow and drift from its origional mission. If you will recall it was Al Gore who proposed a more “mature” OSHA focused around creative partnerships with business and industry and it was only at the midnight hour of the Clinton administration when the poorly written Ergonomic standard was shoved out the door so the George W. Bush administration would have time to kill it, and be blamed for its demise.
Many now refer to OSHA as the toothless tiger and the EPA has significantly upstaged it on the “Fear” meter over the years with a much greater potential of seven figure fines and jail time for business owners and leadership. As OSHA is preparing to turn 40 years old many are calling for a complete overhaul of the organization.
The Hurricane - The Recession:
This current economic downturn has become a storm like many businesses have never seen before. Many were not prepared, or simply hit so hard that no amount of preparation would have protected them from its wrath. Employers are hurting. Many are failing and don’t have the luxury of the government jumping in to prop them up through this storm.
Contrary to what some believe, the majority of employers are not the bad guys. They want to do what is the correct and ethical thing. But in these struggling economic times many have been forced to throw anything they possibly can overboard just to stay afloat. In many instances this may include their occupational safety and health personnel and programs. Right or wrong it was a decision that had to be made. After all, worker’s compensation premiums and OSHA fines are not what is nipping at the business owner’s heels. It is payroll, cash flow, lost sales, and creditors. A close friend and Safety Director for a major corporation made a comment to me the other day that when you are consuming all your financial resources to bail the boat, you are not too concerned about your safe boating certification.
The High Pressure System – Obama Administration:
Enter the “New OSHA” under the direction of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. Ms. Solis has been an outspoken critic of OSHA for some time and has made it clear under her direction OSHA is about to heat up enforcement and promulgate new standards. In a speech given by Solis in April she made the following statements.
“Under my watch, enforcement of our labor laws will be intensified to provide an effective deterrent to employers who put their workers’ lives at risk. OSHA and MSHA will be about workers — not voluntary programs and alliances.”
Then Jordon Barab, Solis’ pick to run OSHA (for now) who’s opinions and thoughts are easy to find and read due to his five year diatribe on safety, OSHA, and his antipathy toward the republican party on his blog that he calls “confined space“. It is quite possible that he could be the most radical and aggressive OSHA leader since Eula Bingham during the Carter administration. OSHA under Barab has already committed to an increased budget, adding over a hundred new enforcement officers and the rapid development of over a half a dozen new regulations. There is strong congressional action as well that would increase the monetary amount of OSHA fines as well as the likelihood of jail time for individuals for specific OSHA violations.
Convergence:
As these three factors begin to converge I suspect the worst possible scenario. What was once viewed by many as pretty much a toothless tiger is rapidly evolving into a hungry beast with an attitude. Employers distracted by other issues and in a survival mood being caught unaware and unprepared now become the victim of their own ignorance and the changing winds of this growing storm.
I don’t have a crystal ball but from my perspective some of this is pretty obvious. Expect much more aggressive enforcement of OSHA regulations. We are already seeing it on a federal level with more utilization of willful and repeat penalties that are carrying the maximum allowed fines.Look for significant increases in criminal prosecution of business owners and senior leadership when it comes to work place fatalities, catastrophes, and serious injuries. Just a few weeks ago a California business owner was given nine months in jail and ordered to personally pay nearly $250,000 in restitution due to two workers falling through skylights during roofing work. I am afraid these types of stories are going to become more commonplace when employers are forced to make hard decisions in order to keep their business afloat as they stretch their resources even thinner. If businesses don’t have the capital then they can’t replace aging machinery and processes, they will be forced to cut back on preventive maintenance, personnel, equipment and training. We will begin to see more catastrophic events such as the ConAgra explosion in North Carolina, the ammonia leak in Kentucky and many others.
Expect to see new regulations in relative short order. These will include Occupational Exposure to Crystalline Silica, Occupational Exposure to Beryllium, Methylene Chloride, Occupational Exposure to Diacetyl, Confined Space in Construction, Cranes and Derricks in Construction, Ergonomics, and Combustible Dust. This will stretch employers even further as they struggle to implement these new programs. Are they necessary? Probably some, but I fear the current administration is going to be the preverbal “Bully in the Playground” and the scene is not going to be pretty.
On top of all of this, when you look at where workers are really getting killed while in the work environment, 57% of the occupational fatalities in 2007 occurred in either auto or transportation related events; or due to homicide or other workplace violence events. OSHA has no regulations for either of these, nor are they in the hopper for rule making. I ask why? As an example the OSHA standard for powered industrial trucks does not specifically require the operator to wear a seat belt or other restraint device.
Don’t bother to contact me and tell me OSHA can and does cite for powered industrial truck operators who don’t wear seat belts. I know they use the general duty clause. My point is it’s not in the standard.
Outcome:
Some will not survive the storm. A few business owners will be put out of business and made an example of, with costly fines and prison time. Some will throw up their hands in defeat and either sell the company or close their doors for good. A number will take the risk, do nothing and slip under the radar screen, at least for a while. There is also a number with superior safety and health plans who are basically in compliance already. The vast majority will go to great pains and expense to achieve compliance the best they can.
After all this, I predict we will see little decline in the overall injury and fatality rates over the next several years but a lot of casualties along the way.
This commentary presented by Dwayne Towles Vice President of Advanced Safety & Health. To receive our monthly electronic safety newsletter click here and scroll to the bottom right corner of the page.
From Combustible dust to inadequate machine guarding OSHA throws the book at Strum Ruger & Co. Inc.
Federal OSHA has proposed $255,150 in fines against Sturm Ruger & Co. Inc. for a total of 60 alleged violations of safety and health standards identified during the agency’s multiple inspections of the firearms manufacturer’s Newport, N.H., plant conducted between November 2008 and May 2009.
“Our inspections identified a large number of mechanical, respirator protection, electrical, lead, fire, explosive and other hazards that must be effectively and continuously addressed to protect the workers at this plant from potentially deadly or disabling injuries and illnesses now and in the future,” said Rosemarie Ohar, OSHA’s area director in New Hampshire.
OSHA found that the company failed to guard rotating parts on drill presses, sanding and polishing machines despite its knowledge that employees were exposed to severe or fatal injuries if they came in contact with the rotating parts. As a result, OSHA has issued the company one willful citation with $63,000 in proposed fines. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health.
Additional safety hazards include the lack of spark detectors or suppression systems to minimize fire and explosion hazards in ventilation systems that collect combustible wood and metal dust; allowing combustible dust to accumulate; unguarded floors and platforms; lack of eyewashes and adequate personal protective equipment; inadequate procedures, equipment and training to lock out machines’ power sources; improper storage of compressed gas cylinders; damaged, improperly used or ungrounded electrical equipment; additional unguarded machinery; and deficiencies with paint spray booths, confined space rescue, compressed air, forklifts and the transfer of flammable liquids.
The health inspection identified employees exposed to excess levels of lead dust; inadequate lead monitoring, training, hygiene, cleaning and disposal methods; inappropriate selection of respirators for lead; improper respirator fit-testing and use; no medical evaluations for employees using respirators; no refitting and retraining for employees who experienced a hearing threshold shift; and unlabeled containers of hazardous chemicals.
These conditions resulted in the issuance of 55 serious citations with $188,550 in 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 fined $3,600 and issued four other-than-serious citations for inadequate recordkeeping.
According to a search of OSHA’s own website it doesn’t appear this facility had been previously inspected by OSHA until this series of inspections that occurred in late 2008 and early 2009.
National News Release: 09-475-NAT
April 29, 2009
Contact: Diana Petterson
Phone: 202-693-1898
U.S. Department of Labor’s OSHA announces rulemaking on combustible dust hazards
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is initiating a comprehensive rulemaking on combustible dust.
OSHA will issue an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and convene related stakeholder meetings to evaluate possible regulatory methods, and request data and comments on issues related to combustible dust such as hazard recognition, assessment, communication, defining combustible dust and other concerns.
Since 1980, more than 130 workers have been killed and more than 780 injured in combustible dust explosions. These include 14 people who were killed in a dust explosion Feb. 7, 2008, at an Imperial Sugar Co. plant in Georgia and three workers who were burned in April 2009 in an Illinois pet food plant dust explosion.
“Over the years, combustible dust explosions have caused many deaths and devastating injuries that could have been prevented,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “OSHA is reinvigorating the regulatory process to ensure workers receive the protection they need while also ensuring that employers have the tools needed to make their workplaces safer.”
Combustible dusts are solids finely ground into fine particles, fibers, chips, chunks or flakes that can cause a fire or explosion when suspended in air under certain conditions. Types of dusts include metal (aluminum and magnesium), wood, plastic or rubber, coal, flour, sugar and paper, among others.
In 2006, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) recommended that OSHA issue a combustible dust standard. OSHA received additional support for a combustible dust standard from the CSB during a congressional hearing in 2008 when the board said a new standard, combined with enforcement and education, could save workers’ lives.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace for their workers. OSHA’s role is to promote the safety and health of America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and providing training, outreach and education; establishing partnerships; and encouraging continual process improvement in workplace safety and health. The agency’s Web site is http://www.osha.gov.
OSHA has issued 24 occupational health and safety violations against H P Pelzer Automotive Systems Inc. in Thomson, Ga. The agency is proposing $135,000 in penalties against the company.
A health inspection of the plant revealed seven serious violations resulting in penalties of $32,500. The health violations include the company allowing combustible dust to accumulate, not protecting employees from noise hazards and exposing employees to an airborne concentration of formaldehyde.
The company is also being cited with a repeat health violation and a $25,000 penalty for using high pressure compressed air to clean equipment resulting in clouds of resin dust, and a second repeat violation with a $25,000 penalty for exposing employees to high concentrations of airborne particulates. This location had been cited for similar violations after inspections conducted in 2006.
OSHA is issuing an additional 15 citations with proposed penalties of $52,500 after a subsequent safety inspection found serious violations including lack of guardrails, improper lockout/tagout procedures to prevent accidental start-up of machinery, electrical hazards and employees using defective equipment.
“OSHA conducted this inspection as part of its national emphasis program on combustible dust,” said Gei-Thae Breezley, director of OSHA’s Atlanta-East Area Office. “No employee needs to risk their health and their life by working under these conditions.”
January 9th, a Jasper, IN furniture manufacturer experienced an explosion that sent ten workers to the hospital, shut operations down indefinitely, and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage. They were lucky!
These where not as lucky:
January 29, 2003: West Pharmaceutical Services, rubber-manufacturing plant in Kinston, NC – Six deaths, 38 injuries.
February 20, 2003: CTA Acoustics, automotive insulation manufacturing plant in Corbin, KY – Seven deaths, 30 injuries.
February 7, 2008: Imperial Sugar Plant, sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, GA –Thirteen deaths, 40 injuries.
What do all these events have in common? Dust, Disaster, and Death. In late 2007, OSHA announced a National Emphasis Program to address the dangers of combustible dust. Any combustible material (and some materials normally considered noncombustible) can burn rapidly when in a finely divided form. If this dust is suspended in air in the right concentration, it can become explosive. The force from such an explosion can cause employee deaths, injuries, and destruction of entire buildings.
A U.S. Chemical Safety Board study of dust incidents between 1980 and 2005 identified 281 incidents that killed 119 workers, injured 718, and caused significant economic impact. Materials that may form combustible dust include metals, wood, coal, plastics, biosolids, sugar, paper, soap, dried blood, and certain textiles. In many of these explosions, those involved were unaware that a combustible dust hazard even existed.
Generally, the smaller the dust particle the bigger the potential hazard. For the most part, dust particles that are 420 microns in size or smaller are the ones for most concern. But for mixtures of different sizes, it only takes 2% of the total dust concentration to be 420 microns or smaller to create an explosive mixture. Table sugar ranges from 150 – 850 microns in size.
OSHA inspectors are being directed that whenever they see a dust layer of 1/32 inch thickness accumulated over a surface area of at least 5% of the floor of a facility or room, there could be a problem. In November 2008, OSHA cited an Alabama clothing hanger manufacturer with a willful violation of $44,000 for allowing paper dust to accumulate on machinery and the shop floor. On March 11th of 2009 an auto parts manufacturer was cited for $135,000 after a combustible dust national emphasis inspection.
Companies must determine the combustibility of any dusts that are a product or byproduct of their operations. Relying on Material Safety Data Sheets may not be enough. In a recent investigation involving a review of 140 Material Safety Data Sheets of combustible powders, it was found that more than 40% did not have warnings about potential explosions.
There are five conditions that contribute to the likelihood and intensity of a dust explosion: a fuel (combustible dust); heat (ignition source); and an oxidizer (usually the oxygen in air). The last two are somewhat unique to combustible dust explosions. They are “Dispersion” of dust particles and “Confinement” of the dust cloud such as in a vessel, a room, or ductwork.In many dust explosions a precursor event occurs, such as a tank rupture, arc flash, or something as simple as cleaning an area with pressured air that disperses residual dust into the air. All that is needed is an ignition source for an event to occur. Employers should remember that just because what you produce doesn’t involve dust, you aren’t 100% safe from a potential dust explosion. One must consider the entire operation looking at raw materials, machining, conveying, or other forms of manipulating these materials that may create a dust.Housekeeping…………let me repeat myself, “Housekeeping”. Remember that dust layers of 1/32 inch thickness can be hazardous. If you see dust, clean it up. Pay special attention to places not seen, such as tops of machinery, building structural members, and above drop ceilings.
Also consider the implementation of an ignition control program, such as grounding and bonding duct systems, dust collectors, and dust-producing machinery. Review your hot work permit program for dust considerations. Be sure to use industrial trucks and other cleaning equipment approved for combustible dust locations.
For heavier dust situations, specialized dust collection systems, quick action fire suppression, and explosion venting systems may be needed. Don’t forget the need for employee training on the explosion hazards of combustible dusts as well as on your facility’s emergency action plan.
If you don’t control your dust, you are putting your organization at risk for a possible catastrophic event or a “not so pleasant” OSHA visit.
Dwayne Towles is President of Louisville, KY based Advanced Safety & Health, LLC. He can be reached at (502) 240-6910 or by email at dtowles@AdvancedSafetyHealth.com.
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and OSHA interim administrator Jordan Barab have said that a new combustible dust regulation is one of their rulemaking priorities at OSHA. And the rulemaking process is moving along. OSHA has submitted the proposed regulation to the Office of Management and Budget for review.
OSHA announced today that over the last 16 months, compliance officers from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have made 104 visits to Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama companies where employees may be exposed to potential combustible dust hazards. 
