OSHA Inspection: ALERIS ROLLED PRODUCTS

Issued

Jun 11, 2010

Abate by

Mar 30, 2011

Penalty

Initial $5,000 · Current $3,000 Reduced

Hazardous substances A100

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 increased risk for injury related to fire, deflagration
and explosions because
methods were not used to ensure the proper collection and prevent ignition
of combustible dust
during aluminum metal processing related to the continuous aluminum
casting operation:
As of and prior to June 4, 2010, in the area immediately adjacent to the
continuous casting
operation:
(a)The DCE Unicell series C "dry-type" dust collector used to collect
combustible dust was
located inside the building,
(b)The dust collector was not properly bonded and grounded to minimize
static electricity
"charging" of the collection system,
(c)The filtration media used in the dust collector was not designed for
bonding and
grounding to dissipate static electric charge,
(d)The dust collector ductwork had irregularities related to flexible
ductwork use and the
multiple "bends and turns" orientation of the ductwork pipe. Additionally
a section of the
ductwork pipe is unused and capped to create a "dead-end" section. These
conditions can
interrupt free airflow and allow for the build-up of material in these
sections of the
collection system ductwork.
(e)The dust collector was not provided with proper deflagration venting to
a safe location.
(f)There were no signs to demarcate the dust collector as having contents
posing an
explosion hazard.
(g)There were no systems or equipment in place to prevent propagation and
transmission
of deflagration upstream of the collector in the ductwork.
ABATEMENT NOTE:
Among other methods, feasible and acceptable methods to correct this
hazard would be to
comply with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 484 "Standard
for Combustible
Metals"  (2009 edition) and NFPA 69 "Standard on Explosion Prevention
Systems" as they apply
to your operations and equipment; including, but not limited to, the
following, (1) locate dry
type dust collectors outside of buildings (NFPA 484 section 6.3.2.5), (2)
properly bond and
ground dry-type dust collectors (NFPA 484 section 6.3.3.6), (3) install
and maintain static
charge dissipating filter media to dry-type dust collectors (NFPA 484
section 6.3.5.2), (4)
properly design dust collector ductwork systems (NFPA 484 sections
6.3.3.5), (5) design and
install properly sized deflagration venting (NFPA 484 section 6.3.5.6),
(6) properly demarcate
the dust collector with appropriate signage (NFPA section 6.3.2.5.3), (7)
evaluate and implementan explosion prevention and control system according
to one or a combination of the methods
found in NFPA 69.

Issued

May 10, 2010

Abate by

May 13, 2010

Penalty

Initial $2,125 · Current $1,275 Reduced

Issued

May 10, 2010

Abate by

May 13, 2010

Penalty

Initial $1,700 · Current $1,020 Reduced

Issued

May 10, 2010

Abate by

May 13, 2010

Penalty

Initial $1,700 · Current $1,020 Reduced