OSHA Inspection: NORTHWESTERN STEEL & WIRE COMPANY

Issued

Mar 30, 1995

Abate by

Apr 17, 1995

Penalty

Initial $5,000 · Current $5,000

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 employees
were exposed to hazard of falls to the inside and/or outside of the
electric arc furnaces while
accessing the inside of the furnaces for replacement of refractory brick:
Furnace Dept.; at electric arc furnaces #6, #7, and #8 - Employees
regularly access the
furnace floor by climbing the guardrails of the stair platform onto the
Bezel Ring and
descending into the furnace by use of a portable ladder.  Employees were
unprotected
from falling 8 feet to 9 feet 6 inches to the inside of the furnace or
approximately 10 feet
to 35 feet to the concrete floor or into the slag pit.
Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method to
correct this
hazard is to use a mobile scaffold to access the top of the Bezel Ring,
thereby providing
guardrails protection while inserting portable ladder into the furnace and
until safe decent
can be made.

Issued

Mar 30, 1995

Abate by

Apr 17, 1995

Penalty

Initial $2,500 · Current $2,500