OSHA Inspection: POLYONE CORPORATION

Issued

Jun 25, 2012

Abate by

Dec 31, 2012

Penalty

Initial $5,000 · Current $3,500 Reduced

Hazardous substances E200

General-duty citation text

OSH ACT of 1970 Section (5)(a)(1):     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: combustible plastic dust deflagration, explosion, or other fire hazards while working at or near dust collectors and associated upstream equipment which were not adequately located and designed to prevent or minimize employee exposure in the event of a deflagration or other fire event:    a) PolyOne Corporation - On or about January 13 and 25, 2012 and February 1 and 7, 2012, employees were exposed to fire and deflagration hazards from a Donaldson Torit Vibra Shake VS-2400 Dust Collector (SED-401), located indoors along the wall between the sample laboratory and the finished goods storage and staging area, used to collect combustible dust from mixing, weighing and extruding in the sample laboratory.  This dust collector lacked means of (1) explosion protection, and (2) deflagration isolation to prevent deflagration propagation upstream to the sample laboratory and downstream through the exhaust outlet into the workplace.     b) PolyOne Corporation - On or about January 13 and 25, 2012 and February 1 and 7, 2012, employees were exposed to fire and deflagration hazards from a Donaldson Torit Downflo 3DF24 Dust Collector (SED-1), located outdoors to the rear of the building, used to collect combustible dust from Extrusion Department Lines T, S, E, L, R and C.  This dust collector lacked means of (1) deflagration isolation to prevent deflagration propagation downstream into the 55-gallon collection drums, and (3) bonding between dust collection drums and the dust collector, as non-conductive flexible hose was used to make connections. Bonding and Grounding has been abated.    c) PolyOne Corporation - On or about January 13 and 25, 2012 and February 1 and 7, 2012, employees were exposed to fire and deflagration hazards from a Donaldson Torit TD-6120-1-55 Dust Collector (SED-2), located outdoors to the rear of the building, used to collect combustible dust from Extrusion Department Lines P, M, N, and Q.  This dust collector lacked means of (1) deflagration isolation to prevent deflagration propagation downstream into the 55-gallon collection drum,  and (3) bonding between the dust collection drum and the dust collector, as non-conductive flexible hose was used to make connections. Bonding and grounding has been abated.    d) PolyOne Corporation - On or about January 13 and 25, 2012 and February 1 and 7, 2012, employees were exposed to fire and deflagration hazards from a Donaldson Torit Downflo II DFT 4-48 Dust Collector (SED-3), located outdoors to the rear of the building, used to collect combustible dust from the Blending Room mixacos, weigh station (WB-201), extraction arms, and bulk storage bin (TK 201).  This dust collector lacked means of (1) deflagration isolation to prevent deflagration propagation downstream into the 55-gallon collection drums, and (2) bonding between dust collection drums and the dust collector, as non-conductive flexible hose was used to make connections. Bonding and grounding has been abated.    e) PolyOne Corporation - On or about January 13 and 25, 2012 and February 1 and 7, 2012, employees were exposed to fire and deflagration hazards from the lack of grounding and bonding.  Throughout the facility on numerous pieces of process equipment associated with SED-1, SED-2, and SED-3 dust collector systems, ducting handling combustible dust was not bonded, as non-conductive flexible hose was utilized to make connections.  Affected equipment included, but was not limited to, Acrison Feeders and Extruders on the C, E, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, and T Lines in the Extrusion Department, and Mixacos,  weigh station (WB-201), Ergo/M2 Extraction Arms and the bulk storage bin (TK 201) in the Blending Room.    Bonding and grounding has been abated.    In accordance with 29 CFR 1903.19(d), abatement certification is required for this violation (using the CERTIFICATION OF CORRECTIVE ACTION WORKSHEET), and in addition, documentation demonstrating that abatement is complete must be included with your certification.  This documentation may include, but is not limited to, evidence of the purchase or repair of the equipment, photographic or video evidence of abatement, or other written records.