OSHA Inspection: ALLEGHENY PELLET CORPORATION

Issued

Oct 20, 2003

Abate by

Feb 27, 2004

Penalty

Initial $375 · Current $244 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 employees
were exposed to burn injuries and dust explosions because material
conveying equipment was
not equipped with approved devices to prevent, mitigate, and/or control
the hazards associated
with fires and dust explosions:
a.) Conveyor Belts: Conveyor belts were not equipped with belt tracking
sensors
and
alarms to prevent misaligned conveyor belts from causing fires.  These
conveyor belts
included but were not limited to: (1) Conveyor belt that feeds wood
material to the
hammer mill (2) Conveyor belt that removes material from the truck dump
area.
ABATEMENT NOTE:
Among other methods, feasible and acceptable means to correct the
conditions include
equipping the head and tail sections of the conveyor belts with belt
tracking sensors that
emit audible and visual alarms. A secondary set of the tracking sensors
should be
designed to automatically shut-off driving power in the event of greater
than 20belt
slowdown or misalignment.
b.) Conveyor Belts & Air Handling System for Dust and Wood Material:
Conveyor
belts and the air systems were utilized to convey combustible wood
material and wood
dust. The Conveyor belts were not equipped with an automatic fire
protection system to
extinguish potential sparks, embers, and/or  fires that may erupt on the
belt and/or inside
the metal conveyor housing.  In addition, the air system/dust collection
system and its
associated duct work, cyclones, and bag houses were not equipped with an
automatic fire
protection system to extinguish sparks, embers, and/or fires that may
erupt inside the air
system and be communicated to downstream process equipment and wood
material
storage locations.
ABATEMENT NOTE:
Among other methods, feasible and acceptable means to correct the
condition include
installing an automatic fire extinguishing system that is equipped with
spark and fire
detection capabilities.
c.) Hammer Mill: The conveying systems that deliver wood material to
and/or from the
hammer mill were not equipped with approved means to prevent flame
propagation
through the conveying systems and other pieces of process equipment.
ABATEMENT NOTE:
Among other methods, feasible and acceptable methods to correct the
condition include
complying with the applicable requirements noted in NFPA 664 Standard for
the
Prevention of Fires and Explosions in Wood Processing and Woodworking
Facilities.
NFPA 664 Section 10-3 states material that presents a dust explosion
hazard is delivered
to or from pulverizing operations chokes, rotary valves, explosion
suppression systems,
or other approved means shall be provided to prevent flame propagation
through the
conveying system.

Issued

Oct 20, 2003

Abate by

Dec 11, 2003

Penalty

Initial $525 · Current $341 Reduced

Issued

Oct 20, 2003

Abate by

Dec 11, 2003

Issued

Oct 20, 2003

Abate by

Dec 11, 2003

Issued

Oct 20, 2003

Abate by

Dec 11, 2003

Penalty

Initial $225 · Current $146 Reduced

Issued

Oct 20, 2003

Abate by

Dec 11, 2003

Issued

Oct 20, 2003

Abate by

Dec 11, 2003

Penalty

Initial $225 · Current $146 Reduced

Issued

Oct 20, 2003

Abate by

Dec 11, 2003

Issued

Oct 20, 2003

Abate by

Dec 11, 2003

Issued

Oct 20, 2003

Abate by

Dec 11, 2003

Penalty

Initial $300 · Current $195 Reduced

Issued

Oct 20, 2003

Abate by

Dec 11, 2003