OSHA Inspection: WYOMING VALLEY PALLETS INC

Issued

Jun 11, 2014

Abate by

Sep 12, 2014

Penalty

Initial $1,320 · Current $320 Reduced

Hazardous substances 81108111

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.95(b)(1): When employees were subjected to sound exceeding those listed in Table G-16, feasible administrative or engineering controls were not utilized:    a) Wyoming Valley Pallets - Old Building:  An employee, Pallet Builder, was exposed to continuous noise at 173.1% of the exposure level of 90 dBA or an 8-hour time-weighted average of 94.0 dBA.  This exposure was observed over a 290 minute sampling period.  Zero exposure was assumed for the 190 minutes not sampled.  The employer did not utilize feasible administrative or engineering controls to reduce sound levels for those employees exposed over the permissible exposure limit of 90 dBA, on or about 03/07/2014.      ABATEMENT CERTIFICATION AND DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED          Among other methods, feasible and acceptable abatement methods to correct these hazards include, but are not limited to the following:    5. Isolate the noise created by the bandsaw by using noise barriers to enclose the bandsaw work area on the three sides that are facing the front, rear, and right sides of the work area.  At the open side of the barrier, place the stack of pallets to be cut and piles of recycled pallet boards so that they are still accessible by forklift.         ABATEMENT NOTE:      Step 1:  A written detailed plan of abatement shall be submitted to the Area Director outlining a schedule for the implementation of engineering and/or administrative measures to control employee exposures to noise as referenced in this citation.  This plan shall include, at a minimum, target dates for the following actions which must be consistent with the dates required by this citation:      1) Evaluation of engineering control options;      2) Selection of optimum control method and completion of design;      3) Procurement, installation and operation of selected control measures;      4) Testing and acceptance or modification/redesign of controls.      All proposed control measures shall be evaluated for each particular use by a competent industrial hygienist or other technically qualified person.  45-day progress reports are required during the abatement period.      Step 2:  Abatement shall have been completed by the implementation of feasible engineering and/or administrative controls upon verification of their effectiveness in achieving compliance.      Date by which violates must be abated:  Step 1  XX/XX/XXXX      Date by which violates must be abated:  Step 2  XX/XX/XXXX

Issued

Jun 11, 2014

Abate by

Jul 1, 2014

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

Hazardous substances 0560

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.1200(h)(1):   Employees were not provided effective information and training on hazardous chemicals in their work area at the time of their initial assignment and whenever a new hazard that the employees had not been previously trained about was introduced into their work area:  a) Wyoming Valley Pallets - Old Building:  Employees were exposed to the hazardous chemical, carbon monoxide, from the indoor use of gas powered forklifts and the employer did not provide employees with hazard communication training specific to the chemical, on or about 03/04/2014.  ABATEMENT CERTIFICATION REQUIRED