OSHA Inspection: AVALON PRECISION CASTING COMPANY, LLC

Issued

Mar 31, 2015

Penalty

Initial $7,000 · Current $4,200 Reduced

Hazardous substances S915

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(c)(2)(ii): The employer did not establish and implement those elements of a written program necessary to ensure that any employee using a respirator voluntarily was medically able to use that respirator, and that the respirator was cleaned, stored, and maintained so that its use does not present a health hazard to the user:       On or about December 1, 2014, the employer failed to establish and implement the elements of a written program necessary to ensure that employees who voluntarily wear half mask elastomeric respirators with HEPA cartridges had medical evaluations.

Issued

Mar 31, 2015

Abate by

Apr 8, 2015

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

Hazardous substances 9015S915

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(e)(1): The employer did not provide a medical evaluation to determine the employee's ability to use a respirator, before the employee was fit tested or required to use the respirator in the workplace:    On or about December 17, 2014, medical evaluations were not performed for employees who were overexposed to cristobalite in the Knock Out and Cut Off Departments and are required to wear respirators.

Issued

Mar 31, 2015

Abate by

Apr 8, 2015

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

Hazardous substances 9015S915

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(f)(2): Employee(s) using tight-fitting facepiece respirators were not fit tested prior to initial use of the respirator:   On or about December 17, 2014, fit tests on the type of respirators that were being worn were not performed for employees who were overexposed to cristobalite.  Employees were wearing filtering face piece (dust mask style) respirators, but were fit tested on half mask respirators.

Issued

Mar 31, 2015

Abate by

Apr 8, 2015

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

Hazardous substances 9015S915

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(g)(1)(i)(B): Respirators with tight-fitting facepieces were worn by employees with a condition that interfered with the face-to-facepiece seal or valve function:     On or about December 17, 2014, at least one employee performing knockout operations was wearing a filtering facepiece dust mask style respirator with a full beard while being exposed to cristobalite dust.  The employee was exposed to cristobalite at an eight hour time weighted average of 1.534 mg/m3, which is 5.0 times over the calculated Permisslbe Exposure Level of 0.304 mg/m3.  The sampling period lasted for 428 minutes with the 52 minutes not sampled being counted as zero exposure.

Issued

Mar 31, 2015

Abate by

Apr 8, 2015

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

Hazardous substances 9015S915

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(k)(3): Training was not provided prior to requiring employees to use a respirator in the workplace:  On or about December 17, 2014, respirator training was not provided to employees who were overexposed to cristobalite and are required to wear respirators.

Issued

Mar 31, 2015

Abate by

Apr 13, 2015

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

Hazardous substances S915

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(k)(6): The employer did not provide the basic advisory information on respirators, as presented in Appendix D of 29 CFR 1910.134, in written or oral format to employees who wear respirators when such use was not required by the employer:  On or about December 1, 2014, the employer failed to provide the information in Appendix D of 29 CFR 1910.134 to employees who voluntarily can wear dust masks or half mask elastomeric respirators with HEPA cartridges.

Issued

Mar 31, 2015

Abate by

May 30, 2015

Penalty

Initial $3,300 · Current $1,980 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.147(c)(4)(ii): Procedures did not clearly and specifically outline the scope, purpose, authorization, rules, and techniques to be utilized for the control of hazardous energy, and the means to enforce compliance including, but not limited to, 29 CFR 1910.147(c)(4)(ii)(A), (c)(4)(ii)(B), (c)(4)(ii)(C) and (c)(4)(ii)(D), as listed below:    (A)  A specific statement of the intended use of the procedure;  (B)  Specific procedural steps for shutting down, isolating, blocking and securing machines or equipment to control hazardous energy;  (C)  Specific procedural steps for the placement, removal and transfer of lockout devices or tagout devices and the responsibility for them; and  (D)  Specific requirements for testing a machine or equipment to determine and verify the effectiveness of lockout devices, tagout devices, and other energy control measures.    On or about December 17, 2014, the employer failed to develop machine specific lockout/tagout procedures that included all of the above information for their equipment, including but not limited to the MPI Injection Press.

Issued

Mar 31, 2015

Abate by

May 30, 2015

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.147(c)(6)(i): The employer did not conduct a periodic inspection of the energy control procedure at least annually to ensure that the procedure and the requirement of this standard were being followed:    On or about December 17, 2014, the employer failed to conduct at least annual inspections of their lockout/tagout procedures including but not limited to the procedure for the MPI Injection Press.      Note:  1910.147(c)(6)(ii) states that the employer shall certify that the periodic inspections have been performed.  The certification shall identify the machine or equipment on which the energy control procedure was being utilized, the date of the inspection, the employees included in the inspection, and the person performing the inspection.

Issued

Mar 31, 2015

Abate by

Apr 1, 2016

Penalty

Initial $7,000 · Current $4,200 Reduced

Hazardous substances 9015S915

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.1000(c):      Employees were exposed to cristobalite in excess of the calculated 8-hour time weighted average limits listed in Table Z-3:    a) On or about December 17, 2014, at least one employee operating the cutoff saw was exposed to cristobalite dust at an eight hour time weighted average of 1.579 mg/m3, which is 1.8 times over the calculated Permisslbe Exposure Level of 0.855 mg/m3.  The sampling period lasted for 440 minutes with the 40 minutes not sampled being counted as zero exposure.      b) On or about December 17, 2014, at least one employee performing knockout operations was exposed to cristobalite dust at an eight hour time weighted average of 1.534 mg/m3, which is 5.0 times over the calculated Permisslbe Exposure Level of 0.304 mg/m3.  The sampling period lasted for 428 minutes with the 52 minutes not sampled being counted as zero exposure.        Engineering and administrative controls usually effective in these circumstances include but are not limited to the following:    1.  Increase existing local exhaust ventilation and/or install local exhaust ventilation  2.  Prohibit the use of compressed air for cleaning  3.  Prohibit the practice of dry sweeping        Abatement Steps     STEP 1:  Effective respirators shall be provided and used by all employee(s) as an interim measure.  Abatement must be completed by ***5 days***.      STEP 2:  Submit to the Area Director a written detailed plan of abatement outlining a schedule for the implementation of engineering and/or administrative measures to control employee exposures 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.     a)  Evaluation of the extent and location of the hazard source.     b)  Evaluation of control measure options.    c)  Selection of optimum control method(s).    d)  Determination of control measure design.    e)  Ordering and delivery of equipment and material(s).    f)  Installation of control measures.     g)  Training of employees in proper operation and maintenance of newly-implemented control measures.     h)  Assurance of effective performance of control measures.    All proposed control measures shall be evaluated for each particular use by a technically qualified person.  Abatement must be completed by ***30 days***.    STEP 3:  Correction should have been completed by the implementation of feasible engineering and/or administrative controls and their effectiveness in achieving compliance.  Abatement must be completed by ***60 days***.

Issued

Mar 31, 2015

Abate by

Apr 1, 2016

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

Hazardous substances 9015S915

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.1000(e): Feasible administrative or engineering controls were not determined and implemented to achieve compliance with the limits prescribed in 29 CFR 1910.1000(a) through (d):       a) On or about December 17, 2014, at least one employee operating the cutoff saw was exposed to cristobalite dust at an eight hour time weighted average of 1.579 mg/m3, which is 1.8 times over the calculated Permissible Exposure Level of 0.855 mg/m3.  The sampling period lasted for 440 minutes with the 40 minutes not sampled being counted as zero exposure.  The employee was not required to wear respiratory protection and the ventilation controls on the saw were not adequate to control the exposure.        b) On or about December 17, 2014, at least one employee performing knockout operations was exposed to cristobalite dust at an eight hour time weighted average of 1.534 mg/m3, which is 5.0 times over the calculated Permissible Exposure Level of 0.304 mg/m3.  The sampling period lasted for 428 minutes with the 52 minutes not sampled being counted as zero exposure.  The employee was not required to wear respiratory protection, there were no ventilation controls on the jack hammer, and the ventilation controls on the blasters were not adequate to control the exposure.

Issued

Mar 31, 2015

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.22(d)(1): On every building or other structure, or part thereof, used for mercantile, business, industrial or storage purposes, the loads approved by the building official were not marked on plates of approved design and securely affixed in a conspicuous place in each space to which they relate:  On or about December 17, 2014, the area above the locker rooms was used for the storage of boxes of paper/documents, but the load rating for the ceilings were not known by the employees or posted on the structures.

Issued

Mar 31, 2015

Abate by

May 15, 2015

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.146(c)(2): The employer did not inform exposed employees, by posting danger signs or by any other equally effective means, of the existence and location of and the danger posed by the permit spaces:    On or about December 1, 2014, the employer did not have signs identifying confined spaces, such as their furnaces, posted in the workplace.      NOTE: A sign reading DANGER-PERMIT-REQUIRED CONFINED SPACE, DO NOT ENTER or using other similar language would satisfy the requirement for a sign.

Issued

Mar 31, 2015

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.157(g)(2): The educational program to familiarize employees with the general principles of fire extinguisher use and the hazards involved with incipient stage fire fighting was not provided to all employees upon initial employment, and at least annually thereafter:  On or about December 1, 2014, portable fire extinguishers were available for designated employees to use, but annual training was not provided.  Note the employer may exercise one of the following options:  1. Provide portable fire extinguishers as specified in 29 CFR 1910.157(c)(1), meet the distribution requirements per 29 CFR 1910.157(d) (75 to the nearest extinguisher for Class A fires and 50 to the nearest unit for Class B fires), and provide training and education for all employees in the use of such equipment and the hazards associated with incipient stage fire fighting as specified in 29 CFR 1910.157(g).  The other sections of 29 CFR also apply.  2. Provide extinguishers as specified in 29 CFR 1910.157(c)(1), designate certain employees to be the only employees authorized to use such equipment and require all other employees to immediately evacuate upon the sound of the fire alarm, establish this in writing in an emergency action plan as outlined in 29 CFR 1910.38(a) and train/educate designated employees per 1910.157(g).  Utilizing this option exempts the employer from distribution requirements of 29 CFR 1910.157(d).  3. Establish a written fire safety policy which requires the immediate and total evacuation of employees from the workplace upon the sounding of a fire alarm signal.  This policy shall include an emergency action plan and a fire prevention plan as specified in 29 CFR 1910.38(a) and 29 CFR 1910.39(a).  Utilizing this option exempts the employer from the requirements of 29 CFR 1910.157 to include the need for providing portable fire equipment unless a specific standard requires that a portable fire extinguisher be provided (such as those requirements in 29 CFR 1910.106/107 related to the use/storage of flammable/combustible liquids).  If extinguishers are provided, but not intended for employee use, 29 CFR 1910.157(e) and (f) are still applicable (inspection, maintenance, and testing of equipment).

Issued

Mar 31, 2015

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

Hazardous substances 0691

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.1026(d)(1): The employer with a workplace or work operation covered by this standard did not determine the 8-hour time-weighted average exposure for each employee exposed to chromium (VI):  On or about December 1, 2014, the employer did not have an exposure determination, such as air sampling results, for employees with possible exposure to chromium (VI) from working with metals that contain chromium, such as stainless steel.