OSHA Inspection: ALLEGHENY ENERGY SUPPLY COMPANY, LLC

Issued

Jan 10, 2012

Abate by

Jan 20, 2012

Penalty

Initial $7,000 · Current $5,950 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 the employees were permitted to access, ride, and perform
work from the
automated 1B Rotary Coal Plow, exposing employees to being caught between
a guardrail
system and a fixed shelf:
a.B-Reclaim Tunnel:  Employees were permitted to access and stand on a
platform on
the automated 1B Rotary Coal Plow to unplug coal chutes as the plow
traversed back
and forth under the back edge of the concrete reclaim shelves that
protrude from the
tunnel walls.  This exposed the employees to crushing and struck by
hazards as
evidenced by a crushing injury that occurred on September 18, 2011 when an
employee was caught between the end of the shelf and a portion of the
railing on the
platform.  Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement
method to
correct this hazard is to prohibit any employee from riding on the 1B
Rotary Coal
Plow.y