OSHA Inspection: WEAVER PALLET LTD

Issued

Sep 11, 2017

Abate by

Dec 29, 2017

Penalty

Initial $2,309 · Current $1,385 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.95(b)(1): When employees were subjected to sound exceeding those listed in Table G-16, feasible administrative or engineering controls were not utilized:    a). For an employee operating the automatic nailer, who was exposed to continuous noise at 143.8% of the permissible daily noise exposure (8-hour time weighted average sound level of 90 dBA) or equivalent sound level of approximately 92.6 dBA during the 415 minute sampling period on August 17, 2017; exposure calculations included a zero increment for the 65 minutes not sampled.     b). For an employee operating the cutoff saw, who was exposed to continuous noise at 468% of the permissible daily noise exposure (8-hour time weighted average sound level of 90 dBA) or equivalent sound level of approximately 101.1 dBA during the 416 minute sampling period on August 17, 2017; exposure calculations included a zero increment for the 64 minutes not sampled.     c). For an employee operating the gang saw, who was exposed to continuous noise at 165.7% of the permissible daily noise exposure (8-hour time weighted average sound level of 90 dBA) or equivalent sound level of approximately 93.6 dBA during the 411 minute sampling period on August 17, 2017; exposure calculations included a zero increment for the 69 minutes not sampled.    Abatement Steps:    1.  Effective hearing protection shall be provided and used by all exposed employees as an interim protection measure and when administrative or engineering controls fail to reduce sound level within the levels of table G-16.  In addition, an effective hearing conservation program in accordance with 29 CFR 1910.95(c) thru (n) shall be maintained.  ABATEMENT MUST BE COMPLETED BY SEPTEMBER 28, 2017.    2.  Submit to the Area Director a written detailed plan of abatement outlining a schedule for the implementation of engineering and/or administrative measures to control employee exposure to noise as referenced 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 citation.  ABATEMENT MUST BE COMPLETED BY OCTOBER 26, 2017.    a)  Evaluation of engineering control options.    b)  Selection of optimum control method and completion of design.    c)  Procurement, installation and operation of selected control measures.    d)  Testing and acceptance or modifications/redesign of controls.    3.   Abatement shall have been completed by the implementation of feasible engineering and/or administrative controls upon verification of their effectiveness in achieving compliance.  ABATEMENT MUST BE COMPLETED BY NOVEMBER 30, 2017.