US Department of Labor’s OSHA issues final rule, revises acetylene standard
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has revised its acetylene standard. A final rule replaces references to outdated industry standards with updated references reflecting current industry practices.
“This final rule incorporates current technology that enhances OSHA’s acetylene standard for improving industry work practices and providing safer workplaces,” said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab. “It exemplifies our mission of providing strong and effective regulations that protect the safety and health of working men and women.”
The revised standard requires that in-plant transfer, handling, storage and use of acetylene cylinders comply with Compressed Gas Association Pamphlet G-1-2003, titled Acetylene. The revised standard also updates references for the provisions addressing piping systems, as well as acetylene generators and filling acetylene cylinders.
Acetylene is a colorless gas that can become explosive if liquefied, heated, compressed or mixed with air. It is commonly used in certain plastics and as fuel for welding and metal cutting.
OSHA moving forward with advanced notice of proposed rule making for new combustible dust standard.
As indicated for the past several months OSHA has publish an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) in the Oct. 21 edition of the Federal Register. This is the initial step in the development of a full blown standard to address the hazards of combustible dust.
This has been a hot button issue for both the U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis and the acting OSHA Chief Jordan Barab. There is also strong support for a combustible dust standard coming from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board. In 2006 and again in 2008 during a congressional hearing the board said a new standard, combined with enforcement and education, could save workers’ lives.
“Last year, 14 workers lost their lives in a combustible dust explosion at Imperial Sugar in Port Wentworth, Ga. Since 1980, more than 130 workers have been killed and more than 780 injured in combustible dust explosions,” added acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab.
OSHA has been conducting a Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program (NEP) since October 2007; a very in-depth status report is available on OSHA’s Combustible Dust Safety and Health Topics page. However OSHA doesn’t feel the NEP is enough. They feel there is a need for a comprehensive standard.
Combustible dusts are solids 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 dust likely to combust include metal (aluminum and magnesium), wood, plastic or rubber, coal, flour, sugar and paper.
The public has 90 days to comment on the proposed ANPR. The agency also will conduct stakeholder meetings and will analyze all information and comments received from the public in developing a proposed rule on combustible dust. Expect this standard to continue to be a high priority for the current administration.
Earlier this week OSHA today announced it has issued $87,430,000 in proposed penalties to BP Products North America Inc. for the company’s failure to correct potential hazards faced by employees.
The fine is the largest in OSHA’s history. The prior largest total penalty, $21 million, was issued in 2005, also against BP.
Safety violations at BP’s Texas City, Texas, refinery resulted in a massive explosion — with 15 deaths and 170 people injured – in March of 2005. BP entered into a settlement agreement with OSHA in September of that year, under which the company agreed to corrective actions to eliminate potential hazards similar to those that caused the 2005 tragedy.
Today’s announcement comes at the conclusion of a six-month inspection by OSHA, designed to evaluate the extent to which BP has complied with its obligations under the 2005 agreement and OSHA standards.
“When BP signed the OSHA settlement from the March 2005 explosion, it agreed to take comprehensive action to protect employees. Instead of living up to that commitment, BP has allowed hundreds of potential hazards to continue unabated,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “Fifteen people lost their lives as a result of the 2005 tragedy, and 170 others were injured. An $87 million fine won’t restore those lives, but we can’t let this happen again. Workplace safety is more than a slogan. It’s the law. The U.S. Department of Labor will not tolerate the preventable exposure of workers to hazardous conditions.”
For noncompliance with the terms of the settlement agreement, the BP Texas City Refinery has been issued 270 “notifications of failure to abate” with fines totaling $56.7 million. Each notification represents a penalty of $7,000 times 30 days, the period that the conditions have remained unabated. OSHA also identified 439 new willful violations for failures to follow industry-accepted controls on the pressure relief safety systems and other process safety management violations with penalties totaling $30.7 million.
“BP was given four years to correct the safety issues identified pursuant to the settlement agreement, yet OSHA has found hundreds of violations of the agreement and hundreds of new violations. BP still has a great deal of work to do to assure the safety and health of the employees who work at this refinery,” said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab.
The BP Texas City Refinery is the third largest refinery in the United States with a refining capacity of 475,000 barrels of crude per day. It is located on a 1,200-acre facility in Texas City, southeast of Houston in Galveston County.
A willful violation exists where an employer has knowledge of a violation and demonstrates either an intentional disregard for the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act of 1970, or shows plain indifference to employee safety and health. A penalty of up to $70,000 may be assessed for each willful violation.
A notification of failure to abate can be issued if an employer fails to correct a cited condition and the citation is a final order of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. A penalty of up to $7,000 may be assessed for each day that the violation remains uncorrected.
Under the OSH Act, OSHA’s role is to promote safe and healthful working conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, outreach and education. For more information, visit:
OSHA adds another $64,000 for total of $109,000 in fines against Veolia ES Technical Solutions, West Carrollton, Ohio
OSHA has concluded the second of two investigations into a May 3 explosion at Veolia ES Technical Solutions in West Carrollton and has issued an additional $64,000 in fines against the chemical processing company, bringing the total fines to $109,000.
The $64,000 in proposed penalties are based on 16 serious violations of OSHA’s process safety management regulation. OSHA’s first inspection, focusing on other workplace health issues at the facility, resulted in $45,000 in fines issued on Oct. 22. That inspection found 11 serious violations.
OSHA initiated two inspections at this facility after powerful explosions occurred shortly before midnight on May 3. The explosions were the result of a large cloud of flammable and solvent vapor ignited by boilers at the worksite. Two employees were seriously injured in the blasts and several onsite buildings were destroyed. Veolia ES Technical Solutions distills and purifies contaminated organic solvent solutions at the West Carrollton facility.
This second set of serious citations allege that the company failed to conduct compliance audits every three years to ensure that policies and procedures were in place for the handling of flammable liquids. They also relate to worker training deficiencies, inadequate testing and inspections of piping and processes, a lack of written standards for operating procedures, maintaining mechanical integrity of equipment and other items involving process safety.
“The May 3 explosion underscores how vital it is that employers keep continuous watch on the handling of dangerous chemicals throughout the process,” said OSHA Area Director Richard Gilgrist. “It is also critical that employees are thoroughly trained and familiar with these processes.”
The Dodge Co. Inc. cited for 41 safety and health hazards. Formaldehyde and other hazards lead to $138,000 in U.S. Labor Department OSHA fines for embalming fluid manufacturer.
OSHA has cited The Dodge Co. Inc. for 41 alleged violations of workplace safety and health standards at its Cambridge, Mass., production plant. The embalming fluid manufacturer faces $138,000 in fines for inadequate safeguards involving formaldehyde stored and used in manufacturing processes at the plant as well as for various chemical, mechanical, and electrical hazards. These were identified during comprehensive OSHA inspections conducted over the past several months.
OSHA found that the plant lacked a process safety management (PSM) program. They also discovered that the plants procedures to proactively assess and address hazards associated with processes and equipment using large amounts of formaldehyde. It was also noted that the plant also lacked controls and other safeguards to reduce the levels of formaldehyde to which some workers were overexposed.
OSHA also identified numerous deficiencies in the plant’s respiratory protection, emergency response, hazardous energy control, chemical hygiene and chemical hazard communication programs as well as electrical hazards, unguarded moving machine parts, untrained forklift operators, failure to maintain work floors in a clean condition, and the use of unapproved forklifts where flammables are used.
“Workers’ exposure to excess formaldehyde levels can impact their health, while the other conditions cited here pose more acute safety hazards,” said Paul Mangiafico, OSHA’s area director for Middlesex and Essex counties. “All of these hazards must be effectively corrected for the safety and health of the plant’s workers.”
As a result, OSHA has issued the company 38 serious citations for these hazards plus, four other-than-serious citations for incomplete and inadequate recordkeeping. 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.
Detailed information about process safety management and formaldehyde is available online at:
The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, OSHA’s role is to promote safe and healthful working conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, outreach and education. For more information, visit:
OSHA has cited M.S. Walker Inc. for 26 alleged willful, serious and other-than-serious violations of safety and health standards at its Somerville, Mass., facility. The blender and distributor of alcoholic beverages faces a total of $147,600 in proposed penalties.
“The most serious hazard found here was the lack of adequate ventilation for the plant’s rectifying room in which large quantities of flammable ethyl alcohol were blended,” said Paul Mangiafico, OSHA’s area director for Middlesex and Essex counties. “Inadequate ventilation can allow a buildup of flammable vapors, resulting in a fire or explosion.”
Other fire-related hazards identified during OSHA’s inspection included alcohol blending tanks that were improperly vented, uncovered or improperly covered; improperly tested tanks and piping used to store or process flammable liquids; improper control of ignition sources; using open buckets to catch leaking ethanol; inadequate or unmarked exit routes; and an inadequate fire-suppression system.
Also identified during the inspection were a lack of procedures and employee training to prevent the startup of machinery during maintenance; respirator deficiencies, including the lack of a written respirator program; lack of an emergency response program and employee training for chemical spills; untrained forklift operators and uninspected forklifts; lack of hazard communication training; and various electrical hazards.
As a result, OSHA has issued M.S. Walker Inc. one willful citation, with a proposed fine of $63,000, for the inadequate ventilation, and 24 serious citations, with $83,700 in fines for the remaining items. The company also has been issued one other-than-serious citation with a $900 fine for not keeping separate OSHA illness-and-injury logs for each company workplace.
U.S. Labor Department’s OSHA issues letters to oil refineries stressing compliance with process safety management standard
WASHINGTON - Oil refineries nationwide have received letters from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) emphasizing the need to comply with all applicable OSHA standards, particularly the Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals (HHCs).
Letters recently were sent to the management of more than 100 oil refineries providing them with data on compliance issues found under OSHA’s Refinery National Emphasis Program (NEP) and urging the refiners to comply with their obligations under the process safety management (PSM) standard. The standard requires employers to develop and incorporate comprehensive, site-specific safety management systems to reduce the risks of fatal or catastrophic incidents. To assist in compliance efforts, OSHA recommends that employers review the information at http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=DIRECTIVES&p_id=3589 or contact their local OSHA offices.
“We initiated this NEP to ensure that refineries develop and fully implement a safety management system that protects workers from serious incidents,” said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab. “Our inspection teams were repeatedly seeing the same problems at the refineries. We found it necessary to remind employers of the importance of compliance with OSHA standards that are designed to save workers’ lives.”
One of the worst oil refinery disasters in history happened in 2005 at the BP Texas City, Texas, refinery where 15 workers died and 170 workers were injured in an explosion and fire. Another incident at a refinery in New Mexico caused injury to six workers when a release of HHCs occurred during pump maintenance.
During the first year of the NEP, OSHA inspectors issued nearly 350 PSM citations to 14 refineries. Some of the citations issued involved employers who failed to address their own process safety findings and recommendations, and failed to establish maintenance procedures for equipment such as pressure vessels and emergency shutdown systems.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, OSHA’s role is to promote safe and healthful working conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards; and providing training, outreach and education. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.
OSHA has cited Hess Corp. for workplace safety and health violations with proposed fines totaling $141,500.
OSHA initiated the investigation as part of its National Emphasis Program focused on petroleum refinery process safety management. As a result of the investigation, the company has been issued 31 serious violations and one other-than-serious violation.
“OSHA’s process safety management regulations are designed to reduce or eliminate workplace hazards associated with the catastrophic release of highly hazardous chemicals,” said Patricia Jones, director of OSHA’s area office in Avenel, N.J. “If not corrected, these violations could compromise the safety and health of Hess employees.
“The serious violations include the company’s failure to properly document process safety information, conduct a proper process hazard analysis, evaluate contractor safety and health programs, properly train employees, conduct maintenance on critical instruments, update operating procedures, regularly conduct incident investigations, resolve incident investigation findings in a timely manner, properly install metal stairs, maintain ladders in a safe condition, support piping systems, and protect against physical damage and excessive stresses.
OSHA issues a serious citation when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard. The Port Reading oil refinery, which employs about 130 workers, has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Two men died May 13th after succumbing to an ammonia leak at a warehouse in the Algonquin neighborhood of Louisville Kentucky. One was found in a scissor lift and the other on the ground. The incident is under investigation. Click here to read more.
OSHA has cited ConocoPhillips Co. Trainer, PA facility for safety and health violations, proposing $116,500 in penalties. The Trainer petroleum refinery has 425 employees.
OSHA initiated its investigation on June 19, 2008, as part of a National Emphasis Program focus on petroleum refinery process safety management. As a result, the company has been issued 26 serious violations, with a penalty of $91,500, and one repeat violation, with a penalty of $25,000.
The repeat violation is due to the company’s failure to review operating procedures as often as necessary.
The serious violations include the company’s failure to provide the appropriate devices for material storage; to properly document its use of equipment; to establish a system to promptly address hazard analysis findings; to address the hazard of explosion in occupied buildings; to address human factors; to develop and implement operating procedures; to provide appropriate training; to confirm all requirements of pre-startup safety review were in place; to follow management of change procedures; and to correct deficiencies that were outside of acceptable limits. A serious citation is issued when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
“Each of these violations could lead to serious injury and possible death,” says Al D’Imperio. “It is imperative that ConocoPhillips abate these hazards to ensure a safe and healthy work environment for employees.”
As indicated for the past several months OSHA has publish an 
