OSHA Inspection: COCHRAN ELECTRIC, INC

Issued

Jul 17, 2018

Abate by

Jul 6, 2019

Penalty

Initial $5,174 · Current $5,000 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.335(a)(1)(i): Employees working in areas where there are potential electrical hazards shall be provided with, and shall use, electrical protective equipment that is appropriate for the specific parts of the body to be protected and for the work to be performed.   Note: Personal protective equipment requirements are contained in subpart I of this part.    a. On or about April 14, 2018, the employer did not ensure that employees were utilizing electrical protective equipment while verifying switchboards LVDP, MDP3 and MDP4 were deenergized, thereby exposing employees to arc flash/shock hazards.

Issued

Jul 17, 2018

Penalty

Initial $5,174 · Current $5,000 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.333(a)(1): "Deenergized parts." Live parts to which an employee may be exposed shall be deenergized before the employee works on or near them, unless the employer can demonstrate that deenergizing introduces additional or increased hazards or is infeasible due to equipment design or operational limitations. Live parts that operate at less than 50 volts to ground need not be deenergized if there will be no increased exposure to electrical burns or to explosion due to electric arcs.    a. On or about April 14, 2018, located in the indoor substation, employees were performing preventative maintenance activities inside the primary side of the 13,200 VAC Square D switchboard, MDP-2, without deenergizing live parts, thereby exposing employees to arc flash/shock hazards.

Issued

Jul 17, 2018

Abate by

Jul 6, 2019

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.333(b)(2)(ii)(A): Safe procedures for deenergizing circuits and equipment shall be determined before circuits or equipment are deenergized.    a. On or about April 14, 2018, located in the substations, employees were performing preventative maintenance inside five electrical distribution switchboards, 120-13,200 VAC. The employer did not ensure that energy control procedures were developed and utilized to ensure that 1910.333(a)-(c) work practices were employed, such as, but not limited to, reviewing electrical circuits, determining electrical personal protective equipment requirements, procedures for verification of de-energized parts, use and application of grounding equipment, and application of lockout devices by exposed employees.

Issued

Jul 17, 2018

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.333(b)(2)(iii)(A): A lock and a tag shall be placed on each disconnecting means used to deenergize circuits and equipment on which work is to be performed, except as provided in paragraphs (b)(2)(iii)(C) and (b)(2)(iii)(E) of this section. The lock shall be attached so as to prevent persons from operating the disconnecting means unless they resort to undue force or the use of tools.    a. On or about April 14, 2018, employees were performing preventative maintenance inside five electrical distribution switchboards, 120-13,200 VAC. The employer did not ensure employees had control over the electrical energy sources. There were employees who did not place a lock on the group lockout box. The lockout box did not contain the only key(s) for the locks used.

Issued

Jul 17, 2018

Penalty

Initial $5,174 · Current $0 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.333(b)(2)(iv)(B): A qualified person shall use test equipment to test the circuit elements and electrical parts of equipment to which employees will be exposed and shall verify that the circuit elements and equipment parts are deenergized. The test shall also determine if any energized condition exists as a result of inadvertently induced voltage or unrelated voltage backfeed even though specific parts of the circuit have been deenergized and presumed to be safe. If the circuit to be tested is over 600 volts, nominal, the test equipment shall be checked for proper operation immediately after this test.    a. On or about April 14, 2018, the employer did not ensure that electrical testing equipment was used to verify the deenergized state of the 13,200 VAC primary feed of the MDP-2 switchboard, thereby exposing employees to arc flash/shock hazards.