OSHA Inspection: FORMOSA PLASTICS CORPORATION, TEXAS

Issued

2015-04-07 00:00:00

Abate by

2015-05-05 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $7000.00 · Current $7000.00

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.119(f)(4): The employer did not develop and implement safe work practices to provide for the control of hazards during operations such as lockout/tagout; confined space entry; opening process equipment or piping; and control over entrance into a facility by maintenance, contractor, laboratory, or other support personnel:         At the Chlor-Alkali Unit, on or about October 6, 2014, through October 30, 2014, employees who performed refinery work activities, such as, but not limited to, transfer of hazardous chemicals from columns and tanks into temporary storage poly tanks, hot bolting, and removing process equipment, received inadequate permits in the following instances:    a.  General work permit no. 708012 did not specify the purpose, manufacturer and model of monitoring equipment, and personal protective equipment.     b.  Hot work permit no. 754426 did not specify the purpose, personal protective equipment, or the general work permit number issued in conjunction with this hot work permit.   c.  Hot work permit no. 754428 did not specify the purpose, personal protective equipment, or whether other permits were issued in conjunction with this hot work permit.    d.  Hot work permit no. 754435 did not specify the purpose, personal protective equipment, document the initials of the authorized employee who conducted atmospheric testing, document the signature of the authorized employee accepting the testing results, document the signature of Operations Authorization, document the signature of Maintenance Authorization, or document whether other permits were issued in conjunction with this hot work permit.   e.  General work permit no. 707742 did not specify the hazards involved, personal protective equipment, or document the line break permit number issued in conjunction with this general work permit.  f.  Failure to enforce the use of personal protective equipment, i.e., chemical suits, when handling hazardous chemicals.

Issued

2015-04-07 00:00:00

Abate by

2015-05-05 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $7000.00 · Current $7000.00

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.119(j)(5): The employer did not correct deficiencies in equipment that were outside acceptable limits in a safe and timely manner when necessary means where taken to assure safe operation:   In the Chlor-Alkali Unit at this facility, during refinery turnaround activities, process equipment were deficient in the following instances:   a.  October 12, 2014, bolts securing the pressure control valve failed, separating the pressure control valve between the bonnet and the valve body, allowing hydrochloric acid to discharge into the atmosphere, and exposing employees to a hydrochloric vapor cloud.     b.  October 7, 2014, the valve and spool on a chlorine drying column, comprised of materials including CPVC, broke away from the column, and released a steady stream of sulfuric acid onto an employee and onto the ground.

Issued

2015-04-07 00:00:00

Abate by

2015-04-15 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $1000.00 · Current $1000.00

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.119(h)(2)(vi):  The employer did not maintain a contract employee injury and illness log related to the contractor's work in process areas:   On April 22, 2014, at the SPVC Unit, Formosa Plastics Corporation - Texas (FPC-TX), a contract employee preparing a slurry tank for a product change sustained fatal injuries when he fell through an open manway to the bottom of the slurry tank.  As of October 23, 2014, the employer had not recorded the fatality in FPC-TX's Contractor equivalent OSHA 300 Form, Log of Work-Related Recordable Injuries and Illnesses for the year 2014.