OSHA Inspection: MEAD WESTVACO

Issued

Mar 12, 2004

Abate by

Mar 30, 2004

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 crushing injuries from the collapse of an unsafe structure
and burns and smoke
inhalation from fire:
Building 45 - R15 Maintenance Building - On or about January 20, 2004,
employees
were potentially exposed to the collapse of the roof and building caused
by excess ice
build-up on the roof.  The  subsequent fire destroyed the building,
exposing employees
to fire and smoke inhalation.
The collapse, although potentially catastrophic, resulted in no serious
injuries.
ABATEMENT NOTE: One feasible method to abate this may be to remove
accumulations of ice when the design limitations of the roof are exceeded.
The following conditions and circumstances contributed to the incident -
the roof collapse
due to ice build-up.  With reasonable diligence the employer could have
known of these
conditions and circumstances and addressed and abated them to prevent the
incident from
occurring.
1. Inadequate roof inspection by the current Buildings and Grounds Manager.
2. Inadequate training of the current Buildings and Grounds manager in
roof inspection
procedures by the previous Buildings and Grounds engineer.
3. The non-response to the roof leak at the point of danger -- the roof
valley
in the
northwest corner of Building 45 -- that was reported to the current
Buildings and
Grounds manager on or about January 14, 2004, six days prior to the
accident.  In the
document "Roof Maintenance Plan" developed by the Buildings and Grounds
Engineer,
the section on "Leak report / response:" stated that "Once a call has been
received
reporting a leak, it is the Buildings and Grounds Engineer
(responsibility) to go to the
site of the report and inspect the scene....If it is determined that the
leak is caused by
flaws in the roof or roof drains, the Buildings and Grounds Engineer will
need to
contract the required repairs."
4. The recognition that the Building 45 flash tank roof vent was
discharging water, as
evidenced by ice build up around the vent on the roofs of Building 45 and
the Trimmer
room and the outside walls of the Trimmer Room Building.  The safety
manager had
ropped-off with danger tape the ground area around the vent at Building 45
and the
Trimmer Room Building to keep pedestrians away from the area due to
falling ice.
5. Water exhausting from other roof vents, including roof flash tank steam
system vents,
had previously been reduced by trouble-shooting and repairing the steam
system.  R-9
Pulp Dryer wet end steam roof vent was an example of a steam system for
whichtrouble-shooting and repairs were done; the system was taken out of
service to prevent
ice build-up on the roof.-up

Issued

Mar 12, 2004

Abate by

Apr 14, 2004

Penalty

Initial $5,000

Issued

Mar 12, 2004

Abate by

Apr 14, 2004