OSHA Inspection: TOP HARVESTERS INC.

Issued

2016-04-26 00:00:00

Abate by

2016-05-24 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $6300.00 · Current $4410.00 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.23(c)(1): Open-sided floors and/or platforms four feet or more above adjacent floor or ground level were not guarded with standard railings (or equivalent) and toeboards:    Employees utilized a 28" wide scaffold plank without guardrails and toe boards positioned over sauerkraut vats in room one to move conveyor sweeps, exposing employees to fall hazards of approximately 14'.     Note:  Toeboards are only required when persons can pass, there is moving equipment or there is equipment with which falling materials could create a hazard.

Issued

2016-04-26 00:00:00

Abate by

2016-05-24 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $0.00 · Current $0.00

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.132(a): Protective equipment was not used when necessary whenever hazards capable of causing injury and impairment were encountered:  (a)  Employees working in sauerkraut vats in room one were exposed to fall hazards of approximately 14' into adjacent empty vats when leveling cabbage, placing the water bedding, and removing the plastic covers.    (b)  Employees working in sauerkraut silo vats in rooms two through four were exposed to fall hazards of approximately 13.5-24' onto concrete when leveling cabbage, placing the water bedding, and removing the plastic covers.

Issued

2016-04-26 00:00:00

Abate by

2016-05-24 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $4500.00 · Current $3150.00 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.146(c)(4): When the employer decided that its employees would enter permit spaces, the employer did not develop and implement a written permit space entry program that complied with 29 CFR 1910.146:    Employees were assigned to enter cabbage fermentation vats (permit-required confined spaces) to remove sauerkraut with a vacuum system and to clean the vats prior to refilling them.         The employer did not develop and implement a permit-required confined space entry program that ensured compliance with all of the applicable elements under 1910.146(d) such as, but limited to:      a.     Procedures to prevent unauthorized entry.  b.     Procedures to identify and evaluate the hazards of permit spaces.  c.     Procedures necessary for safe permit space entry operations (applicable conditions for entry, providing entrants or their representatives with the opportunity to observe monitoring or testing of permit spaces, ventilating the permit space as necessary to eliminate or control atmospheric hazards, protection from external hazards, and verifying that conditions are acceptable for entry throughout duration of entry).  d.     Procedures for providing testing and monitoring equipment and rescue and entry equipment.  e.     Procedures for evaluating permit space conditions when entry operations are conducted (testing and monitoring).  f.      Procedures for summoning rescue and emergency services, for rescuing entrants from permit spaces, for providing necessary emergency services to rescued employees, and for preventing unauthorized personnel from attempting a rescue.  g.     Procedures for preparing, issuing, using, and canceling entry permits.  h.     Procedures for reviewing and revising entry operations.  i.      Procedures for reviewing and revising the permit space program.

Issued

2016-04-26 00:00:00

Abate by

2016-05-24 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $0.00 · Current $0.00

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.146(d)(3)(i): Under the permit-required confined space program required by 29 CFR 1910.146(c)(4), the employer did not develop and implement the means, procedures, and practices necessary for safe permit space entry operations, including, but not limited: specifying acceptable entry conditions:  The employer did not specify the acceptable and safe entry conditions for employees assigned to enter permit-required confined spaces, such as the sauerkraut storage vats in room one and the above ground silo vats in rooms two through four for filling, removing, and cleaning purposes.

Issued

2016-04-26 00:00:00

Abate by

2016-05-24 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $0.00 · Current $0.00

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.146(d)(4)(viii): Under the permit-required confined space program required by 29 CFR 1910.146(c)(4), the employer did not provide, at no cost to the employees, rescue and emergency equipment needed to comply with 29 CFR 1910.146(d)(9):  The employer did not provide any rescue and emergency equipment for employees entering permit-required confined spaces such as sauerkraut storage vats in room one and above ground silo vats in rooms two through four.

Issued

2016-04-26 00:00:00

Abate by

2016-05-24 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $0.00 · Current $0.00

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.146(d)(5)(i): The employer did not test conditions in the permit space to determine if acceptable entry conditions existed before entry was authorized:  The employer did not perform atmospheric testing and monitoring to evaluate that entry conditions were acceptable prior to allowing employees to enter the sauerkraut storage vats in room one and above ground silo vats in rooms two through four.  Employees entered these permit-required confined spaces to remove sauerkraut with a vacuum system and to clean the vats prior to refilling them.

Issued

2016-04-26 00:00:00

Abate by

2016-05-24 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $0.00 · Current $0.00

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.146(d)(9): Under the permit-required confined space program required by 29 CFR 1910.146(c)(4), the employer did not develop and implement procedures for summoning rescue and emergency services, for rescuing entrants from permit spaces, for providing necessary emergency services to rescued employees, and/or for preventing unauthorized entry:  The employer did not develop and implement procedures for rescuing entrants from permit-required confined spaces such as the sauerkraut storage vats in room one and the above ground silo vats in rooms two through four.

Issued

2016-04-26 00:00:00

Abate by

2016-05-24 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $0.00 · Current $0.00

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.146(d)(10): Under the permit-required confined space program required by 29 CFR 1910.146(c)(4), the employer did not develop and implement a system for the preparation, issuance, use, and cancellation of entry permits as required by 29 CFR 1910.146:  The employer did not develop and implement a system for the preparation, issuance, use and cancellation of entry permits prior to allowing employees to enter permit-required confined spaces, such as the sauerkraut storage vats in room one and the above ground silo vats in rooms two through four for filling, removing, and cleaning purposes.

Issued

2016-04-26 00:00:00

Abate by

2016-05-24 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $0.00 · Current $0.00

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.146(e)(1):  Before entry was authorized, the employer did not document the completion of measures required by 29 CFR 1910.146(d)(3) by preparing an entry permit:    The employer did not complete entry permits prior to allowing employees to enter permit-required confined spaces, such as the sauerkraut storage vats in room one and the above ground silo vats in rooms two through four for filling, draining, and cleaning purposes.

Issued

2016-04-26 00:00:00

Abate by

2016-05-24 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $4500.00 · Current $3150.00 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.212(a)(1): One or more methods of machine guarding was not provided to protect the operator and other employees in the machine area from hazards such as those created by point of operation, ingoing nip points, rotating parts, flying chips and sparks:    Employees working on platforms in vat room two were exposed to the ingoing nip points created by the cabbage conveyor belts entering the vats.