OSHA Inspection: EMPIRE PACKING COMPANY, LP

Issued

Sep 22, 2017

Abate by

Oct 27, 2017

Penalty

Initial $4,155 · Current $4,155

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.120(q)(3)(iv):  Employees engaged in emergency response and exposed to hazardous substances presenting an inhalation hazard or potential inhalation hazard, did not wear positive-pressure self-contained breathing apparatus until such time that the individual in charge of the ICS determined through the use of air monitoring that a decreased level of respiratory protection would not result in hazardous exposures to employees:     (a)  Empire Packing Company LP, at 65 Yuma Street, Denver, CO:  On 5/15/17, the employer did not ensure that employees engaged in emergency response and exposed to hazardous substances presenting an inhalation hazard or potential inhalation hazard, wore positive-pressure self-contained breathing apparatus until such time that the individual in charge of the ICS determined through the use of air monitoring that a decreased level of respiratory protection would not result in hazardous exposures to employees.  Employees were required to respond to ammonia leaks from the facility's refrigeration system.  On 5/15/17 an employee responded to an ammonia leak alarm from the pork injection room.  The alarm system was triggered when the detector measured a concentration of ammonia greater than 50 ppm.  The alarm panel did not indicate what the concentration detected was.  The employee wore a Scott full face tight fitting air purifying respirator during the response.  The employee did not have a means of monitoring the concentration of ammonia during his response.  This condition exposed the employee to a respiratory hazard.

Issued

Sep 22, 2017

Abate by

Oct 27, 2017

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.120(q)(8)(i):  Employees who were trained in accordance with 29 CFR 1910.120(q)(6) did not receive annual refresher training of sufficient content and duration to maintain their competencies or did not demonstrate competency in those areas at least yearly:    (a)  Empire Packing Company LP, at 65 Yuma Street, Denver, CO:  On and preceding 5/15/17, the employer did not ensure that employees who were trained in accordance with 29 CFR 1910.120(q)(6) received annual refresher training of sufficient content and duration to maintain their competencies.  Approximately three employees were required to respond to ammonia leaks from the facility's refrigeration system.  On 5/15/17 an employee responded to an ammonia leak alarm from the pork injection room.  The employee entered the building to investigate the alarm, determined the cause of the leak, closed a rooftop valve, and stopped the release.  The employee performed duties at the hazardous material technician level.  Employees had received training at the hazardous materials technician level in 2012 and 2014.  The employees had not received annual refresher training.  This condition exposed the employees to a respiratory hazard.

Issued

Sep 22, 2017

Abate by

Oct 27, 2017

Penalty

Initial $4,155 · Current $4,155

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.147(c)(4)(i): Procedures were not developed, documented and utilized for the control of potentially hazardous energy when employees were engaged in activities covered by this section:    (a)  Empire Packing Company LP, at 65 Yuma Street, Denver, CO:  On or about 5/11/17, procedures were not developed, documented and utilized for the control of potentially hazardous energy when employees were engaged in activities covered by this section.  Employees performed maintenance upon an ammonia refrigeration system.  Employees removed chiller and brine tank subsystems in the pork injection room.  One employee closed valves to enable evacuation of ammonia from the chiller and brine tank systems prior to disconnection of piping from equipment.  The process may release ammonia.  The employer did not develop and utilize procedures for this process.  This condition exposed employees to a respiratory hazard.

Issued

Sep 22, 2017

Abate by

Oct 27, 2017

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(d)(1)(iii): The employer did not identify and evaluate the respiratory hazard in the workplace:    (a)  Empire Packing Company LP, at 65 Yuma Street, Denver, CO:  On or about 5/11/17, the employer did not identify and evaluate the respiratory hazard in the workplace.  Employees performed maintenance upon an ammonia refrigeration system.  Employees removed chiller and brine tank subsystems in the pork injection room.  Prior to removal of equipment, one employee evacuated the circuit and disconnected piping.  The process may release ammonia.  The employer did not evaluate the employee's potential exposure to ammonia during this process.  This condition potentially exposed employees to a respiratory hazard.

Issued

Sep 22, 2017

Abate by

Oct 27, 2017

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

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:    (a)  Empire Packing Company LP, at 65 Yuma Street, Denver, CO:  On and preceding 5/16/17, 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.  Employees were required to respond to ammonia leaks from the facility's refrigeration system.  Employees were required to wear Scott tight fitting air purifying full face respirators with ammonia cartridges when responding to leaks.  On 5/3/17 an employee was fit tested with the Scott full face respirator.  The employer did not provide the employee with a medical evaluation to determine his ability to wear a respirator prior to the fit test.  This condition potentially exposed the employee to a respiratory hazard.

Issued

Sep 22, 2017

Abate by

Oct 27, 2017

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(f)(2): The employer did not ensure that employees using a tight-fitting facepiece respirator were fit tested prior to initial use of the respirator, whenever a different respirator facepiece was used, and at least annually thereafter:    (a)  Empire Packing Company LP, at 65 Yuma Street, Denver, CO:  On and preceding 5/16/17, the employer did not ensure that employees using a tight-fitting facepiece respirator were fit tested prior to initial use of the respirator, whenever a different respirator facepiece was used, and at least annually thereafter.  Employees were required to respond to ammonia leaks from the facility's refrigeration system.  Employees were required to wear Scott tight fitting air purifying full face respirators with ammonia cartridges when responding to leaks.  On 5/15/17 an employee responded to an ammonia leak alarm from the pork injection room.  The employee wore a respirator during the response.  The employer had not provided a fit test in the preceding year for this employee.  This condition potentially exposed the employee to a respiratory hazard.

Issued

Sep 22, 2017

Abate by

Oct 27, 2017

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.1200(h)(3)(iv):  The employer did not ensure that employee training included details of the hazard communication program developed by the employer, did not include an explanation of the labels received on shipped containers and the workplace labeling system used by their employer; the safety data sheet, including the order of information and how employee could obtain and use the appropriate hazard information:  (a)  Empire Packing Company LP, at 65 Yuma Street, Denver, CO:  On and preceding 5/16/17, the employer did not ensure that employee training included details of the hazard communication program developed by the employer, did not include an explanation of the labels received on shipped containers and the workplace labeling system used by their employer; the safety data sheet, including the order of information and how employee could obtain and use the appropriate hazard information.  Employees performed maintenance upon an ammonia refrigeration system and responded to ammonia leaks.  The hazard communication training provided to employees did not include training on the labels received on shipping containers, i.e. GHS labeling system, and the safety data sheet, including the order of information.  This condition potentially exposed employees to a chemical hazard.