OSHA Inspection: RECTEC, LLC

Issued

Sep 22, 2011

Abate by

Oct 14, 2011

Penalty

Initial $6,930 · Current $6,000 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 which were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees in that, employees were exposed to explosion, struck-by and fire hazards:\r\n\r\na)  On or about April 20, 2011 and at times prior, employees were exposed to explosion, struck-by hazards while torch-cutting pieces of scrap material which contained pressurized vessels/containers.  An employee was fatally injured when a pressurized vessel (recoil cylinder) located within a track from a piece of heavy equipment, exploded while he was cutting the track with a torch.  Employees were also exposed to fire hazards while torch-cutting oil filled units, including but not limited to, hydraulic cylinders located in heavy equipment outriggers.  The employer had not developed and implemented an effective inspection process to inspect scrap pieces for hazardous conditions/components prior to cutting.  These hazardous conditions/components could include, but are not limited to, pressurized vessels/containers, oil filled units and any other item which may contain stored energy. \r\n\r\nAmong other methods, a feasible and acceptable method to correct this hazard would be to develop and implement an inspection procedure where all scrap pieces are carefully inspected by the supervisor and torch-cutters prior to conducting cutting on those pieces.  The procedure should include a system for identifying and safely handling pieces that contain hazardous components and pieces with cavities, hollow spaces, containers or other items where the contents may not be visible.  Employees who perform torch-cutting work as well as supervisors responsible for oversight of this work should be trained and/or re-trained on how to recognize and avoid types of scrap materials (particularly heavy equipment parts) that may contain hazardous items. These hazardous items include, but are not limited to, any vessels/containers pressurized with air or gas such as track tensioners/recoil cylinders, shock absorbers and accumulators, units containing oil such as hydraulic cylinders and any other device or unit containing stored energy or flammable/combustible liquids.  The training should include, among other things, specific examples of what types of equipment and materials these items are commonly found in, how to identify particular types of equipment and where the components are typically located within the equipment.  The training should also cover what actions and precautions must be taken once a hazardous component is discovered.\r\n

Issued

Sep 22, 2011

Abate by

Oct 14, 2011

Penalty

Initial $1,980 · Current $1,000 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1904.40(a):  Copies of records kept under Part 1904 requested by an authorized government representative were not provided within four (4) business hours:\\r\\n\\r\\na)  On or about April 21, 2011, the employer did not provide copies of the Log of Work- Related Injuries and Illnesses (OSHA Form 300) and the Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses (OSHA Form 300-A) to an OSHA Compliance Officer within 4 hours.  These documents were requested on April 21, 2011 for the year of 2010 and to date in 2011 and were not provided until August 11, 2011.    Rectec, LLC was previously cited for a violation of this Occupational Safety and Health Standard, or its equivalent 29 CFR 1904.40(a) which was contained in OSHA inspection #313718769 Citation 2 item 1, issued on August 11, 2010 and became a final order on September 8, 2010 with respect to a worksite located at 728 Harlem Place, Pueblo, CO 81004.

Issued

Sep 22, 2011

Abate by

Oct 14, 2011

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1904.29(b)(1):  A Log of all recordable work-related injuries and illnesses (OSHA Form 300 or equivalenet), was not completed in the detail required by the regulation:    a)  On or about April 20, 2011 and at times prior, the OSHA Form 300 Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses for the years 2010 and 2011 were not completed in sufficient detail in that, inadequate descriptions were provided in column (F) for the injuries and objects/substances that directly injured or made the person ill.

Issued

Sep 22, 2011

Abate by

Oct 14, 2011

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1904.29(b)(2): An Incident Report (OSHA Form 301 or equivalent) for each work-related injury or illness, was not   completed in detail as required by the regulation:    a)  On or about April 21, 2011 and at times prior, the employer did not complete the OSHA Form 301 Injuries and Illness Report forms in sufficient detail for the reports provided for 2010 and 2011 in that Sections of the reports were left blank and descriptions of incidents did not contain sufficient details.