OSHA Inspection: TRIALCO, INC.

Issued

Mar 5, 2014

Abate by

Apr 21, 2014

Penalty

Initial $2,800 · Current $1,500 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.132(a): Protective equipment, including personal protective equipment for eyes, face, head, and extremities, protective clothing, respiratory devices, and protective shields and barriers, shall be provided, used, and maintained in a sanitary and reliable condition wherever it is necessary by reason of hazards of processes or environment, chemical hazards, radiological hazards, or mechanical irritants encountered in a manner capable of causing injury or impairment in the function of any part of the body through absorption, inhalation or physical contact:    On December 23, 2013, in the facility, employees required to perform aluminum ingot/sow production operations attempted to extinguish/smother a magnesium fire.  Appropriate protective clothing such as full-body flame-retardant clothing was not worn by the employees.  The employees were thereby exposed to hazards associated with burns..

Issued

Mar 5, 2014

Abate by

Apr 21, 2014

Penalty

Initial $3,500 · Current $1,500 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(d)(1)(iii): The employer shall identify and evaluate the respiratory hazard(s) in the workplace; this evaluation shall include a reasonable estimate of employee exposures to respiratory hazard(s) and an identification of the contaminant's chemical state and physical form. Where the employer cannot identify or reasonably estimate the employee exposure, the employer shall consider the atmosphere to be IDLH:    On December 23, 2013, in the facility, employees required to perform aluminum ingot/sow production wore half-mask air-purifying respirators while engaged in extinguishing/smothering a magnesium fire with fluoride-containing flux.  Where the employer could not identify or reasonably estimate the employee exposure, the employer did not consider the atmosphere to be IDLH.

Issued

Mar 5, 2014

Abate by

Apr 21, 2014

Penalty

Initial $2,800 · Current $1,500 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.157(g)(3): The employer shall provide employees who have been designated to use fire fighting equipment as part of an emergency action plan with training in the use of the appropriate equipment:    On December 23, 2013, in the facility, employees required to perform aluminum ingot/sow production attempted to extinguish a magnesium fire with Class ABC type portable extinguishers which were not appropriate for a magnesium fire. The employer did not provide employees who have been designated to use fire fighting equipment as part of the emergency action plan with training in the use of the appropriate equipment.

Issued

Mar 5, 2014

Abate by

Apr 21, 2014

Penalty

Initial $2,800 · Current $1,500 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.1200(f)(6)(i): Except as provided in paragraphs (f)(7) and (f)(8) of this section, the employer shall ensure that each container of hazardous chemicals in the workplace is labeled, tagged or marked with either the information specified under paragraphs (f)(1)(i) through (v) of this section for labels on shipped containers: or,     (ii) Product identifier and words, pictures, symbols, or combination thereof, which provide at least general information regarding the hazards of the chemicals, and which, in conjunction with the other information immediately available to employees under the hazard communication program, will provide employees with the specific information regarding the physical and health hazards of the hazardous chemical:    On December 23, 2013, in the facility, employees required to perform aluminum ingot/sow production were exposed to fire hazards associated with magnesium scrap metal.  Each container of the magnesium scrap was not labeled, tagged or marked with the required hazard information.

Issued

Mar 5, 2014

Abate by

Apr 21, 2014

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.1200(h)(1): Employers shall provide employees with effective information and training on hazardous chemicals in their work area at the time of their initial assignment, and whenever a new physical or health hazard the employees have not previously been trained about is introduced into their work area. Information and training may be designed to cover categories of hazards (e.g., flammability, carcinogenicity) or specific chemicals. Chemical-specific information must always be available through labels and material safety data sheets:  On December 23, 2013, in the facility, employees required to perform aluminum ingot/sow production were exposed to the hazards associated with flammable solids such as magnesium metal.  The employer did not provide employees with effective information and training on the physical (i.e. fire) hazard of magnesium.

Issued

Mar 5, 2014

Abate by

Apr 21, 2014

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(c)(2)(ii): The employer must establish and implement those elements of a written respiratory protection program necessary to ensure that any employee using a respirator voluntarily is medically able to use that respirator, and that the respirator is cleaned, stored, and maintained so that its use does not present a health hazard to the user. Exception: Employers are not required to include in a written respiratory protection program those employees whose only use of respirators involves the voluntary use of filtering facepieces (dust masks):  On December 23, 2013, in the facility, employees required to perform aluminum ingot/sow production wore half-mask air-purifying respirators while engaged in extinguishing/smothering a magnesium fire.  The employer did not ensure that employees using respirators voluntarily were medically able to do so.