OSHA Inspection: MCWILLIAMS FORGE COMPANY

Issued

May 5, 2016

Abate by

Jun 22, 2016

Penalty

Initial $4,900 · Current $3,675 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.95(g)(7)(iii): The employer did not provide the information required by 29 CFR 1910.95(g)(7)(iii)(A) through (g)(7)(iii)(D) to the person performing evaluations:    a) Establishment    Three employees with Standard Threshold Shifts in 2015 were referred to Urgent Care Medical where a physician administered an otoscopic exam and another hearing test.  Urgent Care was not provided OSHA requirements for hearing conservation and evaluated the results with a different criterion:  whether the average threshold at 500, 1000 and 2000 was above 40 decibels.  OSHA defines a Standard Threshold Shift as a change in hearing threshold relative to the baseline audiogram of an average of 10 dB or more at 2000, 3000 and 4000 Hz in either ear.    A manipulator operator at the 35,000 pound hammer was exposed to noise levels at 62.1% of the permissible daily noise exposure (8 hour Time Weighted Average sound level of 90 dBA) which is 0.62 times the allowable exposure limit.  The equivalent sound level of the measured dose is 86.6 dBA.  The action level is 85 dBA.  Sampling was performed for 446 minutes on 5/3/16, with the unsampled portion of time considered to represent zero for the exposure calculation.   The manipulator operator was one of the three employees with Standard Threshold Shifts in 2015.  He had been reassigned in 2016 from the greater noise exposure of a hammer man to the manipulator operator position, where the equipment enclosure provided noise reduction.    A hammer man at the 35,000 pound hammer was exposed to noise levels at 176.6% of the permissible daily noise exposure (8 hour Time Weighted Average sound level of 90 dBA) which is 1.77 times the allowable exposure limit.  The equivalent sound level of the measured dose is 94.1 dBA.  The action level is 85 dBA.  Sampling was performed for 440 minutes on 5/3/16, with the unsampled portion of time considered to represent zero for the exposure calculation.     Violation occurred on or about 4/12/16.