OSHA Inspection: OLD CASTLE APG NORTHEAST, INC.

Issued

Oct 13, 2016

Abate by

Mar 1, 2017

Penalty

Initial $7,572 · Current $6,815 Reduced

Hazardous substances 9010S900

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 the VP-1 line at 205 Old Webster Road Oxford, MA: On or about August 24, 2016, the employer did not provide medical evaluations to an operator on the VP-1 who was overexposed to an airborne concentration of respirable crystalline silica at 1.37 times the PEL and wore a filtering facepiece device (FFPD) N-95 respirator.

Issued

Oct 13, 2016

Abate by

Mar 1, 2017

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

Hazardous substances 9010S900

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(f)(1): The employer did not ensure that employee(s) required to use a tight-fitting facepiece respirator passed the appropriate qualitative fit test (QLFT) or quantitative fit test (QNFT):    The VP-1 line at 204 Old Webster Road Oxford, MA: On or about August 24, 2016, the employer did not ensure that VP-1 line operators passed a QLFT or QNFT prior to wearing a filtering facepiece device (FFPD) N-95 respirator.  On August 24, 2016, personal air monitoring revealed that a VP-1 line operator was overexposed to a respirable crystalline silica concentration of 1.56 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3) of air as an 8-hour time-weighted average, which is approximately 1.37 times (after accounting for sampling and analytical error) the PEL of 1.02 mg/m3.

Issued

Oct 13, 2016

Abate by

Mar 1, 2017

Penalty

Initial $12,471 · Current $11,224 Reduced

Hazardous substances 9010

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.1000(c): An employee was exposed to respirable crystalline silica in excess of the 8-hour time weighted average (TWA), calculated permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 1.02 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3) of air listed in Table Z-3:  On the VP-1 bagging line at 204 Old Webster Road Oxford, MA: On or about August 24, 2016, the VP-1 line operator was overexposed to a respirable crystalline silica concentration of 1.56 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3) of air as an 8-hour TWA, which is approximately 1.37 times (after accounting for sampling and analytical error) the PEL of 1.02 mg/m3.

Issued

Oct 13, 2016

Abate by

Mar 1, 2017

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

Hazardous substances 9010

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.1000(e): Feasible administrative or engineering controls were not implemented to achieve compliance with the limits prescribed in 29 CFR 1910.1000(a) through (d):  On the VP-1 bagging line at 204 Old Webster Road Oxford, MA: On or about August 24, 2016, the employer did not ensure that feasible administrative or engineering controls were implemented to achieve compliance with the calculated, permissible exposure limit (PEL) for respirable crystalline quartz silica in that a VP-1 bagging line operator was overexposed to an airborne concentration of respirable crystalline silica at 1.37 times the PEL.  The Micropul ventilation system was not providing adequate employee protection against airborne respirable crystalline silica and the employer did not require the use of respiratory protection.

Issued

Oct 13, 2016

Abate by

Dec 1, 2016

Penalty

Initial $7,572 · Current $6,815 Reduced

Hazardous substances 9010S900

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.1200(h)(3)(i): The employee training did not include the methods and observations used to detect the presence or release of a hazardous chemical in the work area (such as monitoring conducted by the employer):    In the production area at 204 Old Webster Road Oxford, MA: On or about August 24, 2016, two employees had not received training on the respirable crystalline silica air monitoring results for the various employee jobs/tasks performed in the facility.

Issued

Oct 13, 2016

Abate by

Dec 1, 2016

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

Hazardous substances 9010S900

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.1200(h)(3)(ii): Employee training did not include the physical and health hazards of the chemicals in the work area:    In the production area at 204 Old Webster Road Oxford, MA: On or about August 24, 2016, the employer had not provided training on the health hazards of respirable crystalline silica to two employees who had been hired approximately three months prior.