OSHA Inspection: SMITH MASONRY COMPANY, INC.

Issued

2016-03-18 00:00:00

Abate by

2016-04-30 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $2800.00 · Current $980.00 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(c): The employer did not develop and implement a written respiratory protection program with required worksite-specific procedures and elements for required respirator use:    U. S. Postal Service Facility, 1 Floretta Place, Raleigh, NC:  On or about February 02, 2016, the employer did not developed a written respiratory protection program to ensure all employees engaged in the use of 3M 8200 N95 respirators while performing demolition operations were trained, fit tested and medically cleared to don such equipment.      ABATEMENT DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED

Issued

2016-03-18 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $0.00 · Current $0.00

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(d)(1)(iii): The employer did not identify and evaluate the respiratory hazard(s) in the workplace; including a reasonable estimate of employee exposures to respiratory hazards and identification of the contaminant's chemical state and physical form:  U. S. Postal Service Facility, 1 Floretta Place, Raleigh, NC:  On or about February 02, 2016, where employees were being exposed to unknown levels of silica dust, a respiratory assessment had not been conducted to determine if the 3M N95 8200 filtering face piece type respirators being provided to employees was adequate protection.   CORRECTED DURING INSPECTION

Issued

2016-03-18 00:00:00

Abate by

2016-04-30 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $2800.00 · Current $980.00 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(k)(1): The employer did not provide respirator training that would ensure each employee could demonstrate knowledge of items in section (i)-(vii):  (Construction Reference 1926.103)    U. S. Postal Service Facility, 1 Floretta Place, Raleigh,NC: On or about January 29, 2016, an employee engaged in manual demolition operations was not wearing a 3M 8200 filtering face piece respirator correctly in that both straps were secured around the neck.      ABATEMENT DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED

Issued

2016-03-18 00:00:00

Abate by

2016-04-30 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $2800.00 · Current $980.00 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.1200(e)(1): The employer did not develop, implement, and/or maintain at the workplace a written hazard communication program which describes how the criteria specified in 29 CFR 1910.1200(f), (g), and (h) will be met(Construction Reference: 1926.59):    U. S. Postal Service Facility, 1 Floretta Place, Raleigh, NC:  On or about February 02, 2016, the employer did not establish and maintain a hazard communication program that explained the hazards associated with exposure to silica dust along with maintaining the safety data sheets and conducting training.  Silica dust is a carcinogen.      ABATEMENT DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED

Issued

2016-03-18 00:00:00

Abate by

2016-04-30 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $1200.00 · Current $420.00 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1926.20(b)(1): It shall be the responsibility of the employer to initiate and maintain such programs as may be necessary to comply with this part:    U. S. Postal Service Facility, 1 Floretta Place, Raleigh, NC:  On or about February 02, 2016, a safety or health program was not initiated and/or maintained to provide compliance with the general safety and health provisions of this standard such as, but not limited to tool box talks regarding silica hazards, protective clothing and communicating common workplace hazards.      ABATEMENT CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.

Issued

2016-03-18 00:00:00

Abate by

2016-04-30 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $0.00 · Current $0.00

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1926.21(b)(2): The employer did not instruct each employee in the recognition and avoidance of unsafe conditions and the regulations applicable to his/her environment to control or eliminate any hazards or other exposure to illness or injury:    U. S. Postal Service Facility, 1 Floretta Place, Raleigh,NC:  On or about Feburary 02, 2016, the employer did not instruct employees to wear hearing protection when exposed to high noise levels while engaging in demolition of masonry walls using a wet saw and an electric jack hammer.      ABATEMENT CERTIFICATION REQUIRED

Issued

2016-03-18 00:00:00

Abate by

2016-06-20 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $2800.00 · Current $980.00 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1926.55(a): Employee(s) were exposed to material(s) at concentrations above those specified in the Threshold Limit Values of Airborne Contaminants for 1970 of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists:     U. S. Postal Service Facility, 1 Floretta Place, Raleigh, NC:    a.     On or about February 02, 2016, during a demolition project, an mason using a portable electric jack hammer and saw was exposed to respirable dust containing 23% crystalline silica (quartz) at an 8-hour TWA of 62.0 mppcf of air.  This exceeded the calculated permissible exposure level of 8.9 mppcf by 6.96 times.  The exposure level was derived from one sample collected over 334 minute sampling period.  The remaining unsampled time of 146 minutes was entered as zero exposure.    b.     On or about February 02, 2016, during a demolition project, a mason's apprentice was assisting with the demolition on interior masonry walls was exposed to respirable dust containing 23% crystalline silica (quartz) at an 8-hour TWA of 80.0 mppcf of air.  This exceeded the calculated permissible exposure level of 8.9 mppcf by 8.98 times.  The exposure level was derived from one sample collected over 327 minute sampling period.  The remaining unsampled time of 153 minutes was entered as zero exposure.      ABATEMENT DOCUMENTATION REQURIED

Issued

2016-03-18 00:00:00

Abate by

2016-06-20 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $0.00 · Current $0.00

Hazardous substances 9010S103

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1926.55(b): The employer did not determine and implement feasible administrative or engineering controls to  reduce employee exposure(s):  U. S. Postal Service Facility, 1 Floretta Place, Raleigh, NC:  On or about February 02, 2016, during a demolition project, two employees using a portable electric jack hammer and a wet saw were exposed to respirable dust containing crystalline silica and feasible administrative or engineering controls were not determined and implemented to reduce exposure.  General methods of control applicable in these circumstances include but are not limited to the following:      (a)    Use ventilation to remove dust from breathing zone of employees while performing floor grinding operations.      (b)    Use better wet methods that introduce more water to the point of operation and general flooring area.   ABATEMENT:  Step 1:  Effective respiratory protection shall be provided and used by all employees exposed to crystalline silica.  Step 2:  Submit to the Area Director a written detailed plan of abatement outlining a schedule for the implementation of engineering and/or administration measures to control employee exposure to crystalline silica as referred 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 section:  (1) Evaluation of engineering control options;  (2) Selection of optimum control methods and completion of design;  (3) Procurement, installation and operation of selected control measures; and  (4) Testing and acceptable or modification/redesign of controls.  All proposed control measures shall be evaluated for each particular use by a competent Industrial Hygiene or other technically qualified person.  Ninety (90) day progress reports are required during the abatement period.  Step 3:  Abatement shall have been completed by the implementation of feasible engineering and/or administrative controls upon verification of their effective in achieving compliance.