OSHA Inspection: CENEX PIPELINE, LLC

Issued

Sep 26, 2005

Abate by

Oct 9, 2005

Penalty

Initial $42,000 · Current $19,750 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:
(a)  On or about March 17, 2005, the employer did not protect all
employees from the hazards
associated with hydrostatic testing of a pipeline, such as being struck by
the testing fluid under
high pressure or the whiplash of broken high-pressure pipe, valves,
tubing, hose or part(s).
Feasible methods of abatement include, but are not limited to, the
following:
1.develop, utilize and implement of a written test plan and a written test
procedure as
advised in American Petroleum Institute's (API) Recommended Practice 1110,
which are
stated to be proven sound engineering practices;
2.provide employee training on the hazards associated with the process of
hydrostatic
testing and the employer's plan to protect employees from associated
hazards;
3.orientate connections to the test head so that the path of travel of
connector hoses is
vertical and not horizontal; and
4.monitor test conditions with computer-aided equipment so that an
employee is not
persistently located in a danger zone during the test.