OSHA Inspection: HOWARD INDUSTRIES, INC.

Issued

Dec 14, 2011

Abate by

Jan 13, 2012

Penalty

Initial $3,960 · Current $1,980 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.22(a)(2):     The floor of every workroom shall be maintained in a clean and, so far as possible, a dry condition.Where wet processes are used, drainage shall be maintained, and false floors, platforms, mats, or other dry standing places should be provided where practicable.      At the work site located at 1840 Progress Avenue, Columbus, Ohio, there was a large puddle in the low bay area where the employer stored machinery, parts, and materials.  Employees accessed these items on a daily basis on foot and while driving fork lift trucks in the low bay area.

Issued

Dec 14, 2011

Abate by

Dec 21, 2011

Penalty

Initial $3,960 · Current $1,980 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.37(a)(3):     Exit routes must be free and unobstructed. No materials or equipment may be placed, either permanently or temporarily, within the exit route. The exit access must not go through a room that can be locked, such as a bathroom, to reach an exit or exit discharge, nor may it lead into a dead-end corridor. Stairs or a ramp must be provided where the exit route is not substantially level.      At the work site located at 1840 Progress Avenue, Columbus, Ohio, employees entered the low bay area to access materials and equipment needed for various job runs for customers with specific requirements.  A fire exit near the 3M area was blocked by debris.

Issued

Dec 14, 2011

Abate by

Jan 13, 2012

Penalty

Initial $3,960 · Current $1,980 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(k):     Training and information. This paragraph requires the employer to provide effective training to employees who are required to use respirators. The training must be comprehensive, understandable, and recur annually, and more often if necessary. This paragraph also requires the employer to provide the basic information on respirators in Appendix D of this section to employees who wear respirators when not required by this section or by the employer to do so.      a.  At the work site located at 1840 Progress Avenue, Columbus, Ohio, employees wore voluntary respiratory protection while chemicals were processed.  The employer had not provided adequate training to employees on the storing, cleaning and maintaining of respirators.

Issued

Dec 14, 2011

Abate by

Jan 13, 2012

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(k)(6):     The basic advisory information on respirators, as presented in Appendix D of this section, shall be provided by the employer in any written or oral format, to employees who wear respirators when such use is not required by this section or by the employer.            At the work site located at 1840 Progress Avenue, Columbus, Ohio, the emloyer provided dust masks for voluntary use.  The employees had not been given Appendix D of the respiratory standard.

Issued

Dec 14, 2011

Penalty

Initial $1,980 · Current $990 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.157(e)(3):     The employer shall assure that portable fire extinguishers are subjected to an annual maintenance check. Stored pressure extinguishers do not require an internal examination. The employer shall record the annual maintenance date and retain this record for one year after the last entry or the life of the shell, whichever is less. The record shall be available to the Assistant Secretary upon request.          At the work site located at 1840 Progress Aenue, Columbus, Ohio, the employer had an ABC fire extinguisher that had a maintenance check in June 2010.

Issued

Dec 14, 2011

Abate by

Dec 21, 2011

Penalty

Initial $1,980 · Current $990 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.1200(g)(8):     The employer shall maintain in the workplace copies of the required material safety data sheets foreach hazardous chemical, and shall ensure that they are readily accessible during each work shift to employees when they are in their work area(s).(Electronic access, microfiche, and other alternatives to maintaining paper copies of the material safety data sheets are permitted as long as nobarriers to immediate employee access in each workplace are created by such options.)    At the work site located at 1840 Progress Avenue, employees who handled various raw chemicals and finished products in the plant did not have access to material safety data sheets (MSDS) after office hours.

Issued

Dec 14, 2011

Penalty

Initial $5,280 · Current $0 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.178(p)(1):     If at any time a powered industrial truck is found to be in need of repair, defective, or in any way unsafe, the truck shall be taken out of service until it has been restored to safe operating condition.        At the work site located at 1840 Progress Avenue, Columbus, Ohio, a Clark fork lift truck, serial number unreadable, was sitting in an employee work area in the mixing area.    The fork lift truck was observed to have a flat tire and had not been tagged as being out of service.        Howard Industries was previously cited for a violation of this occupational safety and health standard or its equivalent standard (29 CFR 1910.0178 (p)(1), which was contained in OSHA inspection number 314590142, citation   number 1, item number 6 and was affirmed as a final order on April 19, 2011, with respect to a workplace located at 1840 Progress Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43207.

Issued

Dec 14, 2011

Penalty

Initial $660 · Current $330 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1904.29(b)(3):     How quickly must each injury or illness be recorded? You must enter each recordable injury or illness on the OSHA 300 Log and 301 Incident Report within seven (7) calendar days of receiving information that a recordable injury or illness has occurred.      At the work site, the employer had an OSHA 300 Log of Injuries and Illnesses for 2011 that listed no injuries as of September 15, 2011.  An employee had suffered a recordable injury on August 31, 2011 that was not listed on the log.