OSHA Inspection: INTERNATIONAL MILL SERVICE, INC.

Issued

Jun 22, 1995

Abate by

Jul 26, 1995

Penalty

Initial $7,000 · Current $5,000 Reduced

General-duty citation text

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970:  The
employer did not
furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from
recognized hazards that
were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to
employees in that: on and
before 2/1/95  employees were exposed to the hazards of asphyxiation,
extremely high
temperatures, and fire potentials while removing slag from the #3 blast
furnace slag pits. These
exposures existed while cleaning pits which were hot and contained
quantities of molten slag
and/or iron which could flow under or around the loader trapping the
loader operator in the pit.
Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable method for abating this
condition is the
development of safe slag pit cleaning procedures which include:
1) The establishment of standard methods for the preparation for and
performance of slag
pit cleaning which include cleaning the entire pit (and elimination of the
"split pit"
method or any other method relying on a "wall" of solidifed slag), assure
adequate
cleaning to prevent excessive accumulations in the pits, assure adequate
monitoring of
pit conditions (including hot spots and loss of iron), assure adequate
watering and cooling
of the pits prior to cleaning, assure that accurate information on pit
conditions is received
by the loader operator, assure that only properly operational equipment is
utilized for pit
cleaning, assure that adequate visibility exists for cleaning to be
performed, and which
assure that operators are not exposed to being struck by material being
cast into the pit.
2) Development of minimum training requirements for all employees assigned
to cleaning
slag pits, including proper cleaning methods, identification of hazardous
conditions,
identification of watering problems, proper pit grading techniques,
conditions requiring
the loader to leave the pit, and minimum acceptable equipment and loader
operating
condition required for performance of the work.

Issued

Jun 22, 1995

Abate by

Jul 26, 1995

Penalty

Initial $7,000 · Current $5,000 Reduced

Issued

Jun 22, 1995

Abate by

Jul 26, 1995

Penalty

Initial $7,000 · Current $5,000 Reduced

Issued

Jun 22, 1995

Abate by

Jul 12, 1995

Penalty

Initial $7,000 · Current $5,000 Reduced

Issued

Jun 22, 1995

Abate by

Jun 27, 1995

Penalty

Initial $7,000 · Current $5,000 Reduced