OSHA Inspection: ORGANICS CORPORATION OF AMERICA

Issued

Jun 7, 2019

Abate by

Jun 26, 2019

Penalty

Initial $6,631 · Current $4,310 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.106(e)(2)(ii)(b)(2): The quantity of Category 2, 3 or 4 flammable liquid located outside of an inside storage room or storage cabinet in a building or in any one fire area of a building exceeded 120 gallons:  a) Manufacturing / Compounding Room: One 55 gallon drum of Isopropyl Alcohol (Cat 2), a 55 gallon drum of Ethyl Alcohol (Cat 3), a 5 gallon can of Excellencia Tea Tree Oil (Cat 3) and 33 5 gallon containers of Flavor Producers brand Natural Flavor Blends (Cat 2) were stored in the room. A total of 280 gallons of Category 2 and 3 flammable liquids were stored in the room where workers dispensed and mixed chemicals to manufacture products, on or about December 28, 2018.

Issued

Jun 7, 2019

Abate by

Jun 26, 2019

Penalty

Initial $3,978 · Current $2,586 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(m)(1): Medical evaluation. Records of medical evaluations required by this section must be retained and made available in accordance with 29 CFR 1910.1020.  a) Establishment: Records of medical evaluations were not kept for each employee that wore tight-fitting elastomeric respirators on or about December 28, 2018.

Issued

Jun 7, 2019

Abate by

Jun 26, 2019

Penalty

Initial $5,304 · Current $3,448 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.176(c): Storage areas were not kept free from accumulation of materials that constituted hazards from tripping, fire, explosion or pest harborage:  a) Manufacturing / Compounding Room: A corrosive oxidizing material (StorOx 2.0: peroxyacetic acid and hydrogen dioxide) in a 5 gallon plastic container was stored in a flammable storage cabinet with incompatible flammable liquids (5 gallon plastic buckets of isopropyl alcohol) on or about December 28, 2018.

Issued

Jun 7, 2019

Abate by

Jun 26, 2019

Penalty

Initial $9,282 · Current $6,033 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  a) Manufacturing / Compounding Room: Workers dispensed and mixed chemicals to manufacture products. Flammable liquids including, but not limited to Isopropyl Alcohol (Cat 2), Ethyl Alcohol (Cat 3), Excellencia Tea Tree Oil and Natural Flavor Blends (Cat 2) are handled. Caustic chemicals including but not limited to 35% Hydrogen Peroxide, Peroxyacetic acid and Texapon K 12 P are handled. The employer did not maintain a written hazard communication program, on or about December 28, 2018.

Issued

Jun 7, 2019

Abate by

Jun 26, 2019

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.1200(f)(6)(ii): Except as provided in 29 CFR 1910.1200(f)(7) and 29 CFR 1910.1200(f)(8), the employer did not ensure that each container of hazardous chemicals in the workplace was labeled, tagged or marked with the product identifier and words, pictures, symbols, or combination thereof, which provide at least general information regarding the hazards of the chemicals and which, in conjunction with the other information immediately available to employees under the hazard communication program, would provide employees with the specific information regarding the physical and health hazards of the hazardous chemical  a) Manufacturing / Compounding Room: The employer imported, but did not ensure labels were placed on drums of lemongrass oil and spearmint oil, indicated the liquid within them was flammable or provide information regarding health hazards on or about December 28, 2018

Issued

Jun 7, 2019

Abate by

Jun 26, 2019

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.1200(g)(2): The chemical manufacturer or importer preparing the safety data sheet did not ensure that it included the required headings and information in 29 CFR 1910.1200(g)(2)(i) through 29 CFR 1910.1200(g)(2)(xii)  a) Manufacturing / Compounding Room: The employer imported, but did not obtain nor prepare a safety data sheet that included the required sixteen section numbers and headings, and associated information under each heading for each hazardous chemical, specifically for lemongrass oil and spearmint oil, which were stored and/or used on or about December 28, 2018.

Issued

Jun 7, 2019

Abate by

Jun 26, 2019

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.1200(h)(1): Employees were not provided effective information and training on hazardous chemicals in their work area at the time of their initial assignment and whenever a new hazard that the employees had not been previously trained about was introduced into their work area:  a) Manufacturing / Compounding Room: The employer did not inform employees of the requirements of the OSHA standard. The employer did not inform employees of measures they could take to protect themselves from exposure to hazardous chemicals, such as appropriate work practices, emergency procedures and personal protective equipment to be used, on or about December 28, 2018.

Issued

Jun 7, 2019

Abate by

Jun 26, 2019

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.132(d)(2): The employer did not verify that the required workplace hazard assessment has been performed through a written certification that identifies the workplace evaluated, the person certifying that the evaluation has been performed, the date(s) of the hazard assessment, and, which identifies the document as a certification of hazard assessment:   a) Manufacturing / Compounding Room: The employer provided Personal Protective Equipment including a face shield, goggles, gloves, and coveralls for employees that work with materials that are flammable, corrosive, and pose health hazards or are irritants. Workers dispensed and mixed chemicals to manufacture products, however the employer did not verify that the required workplace hazard assessment had been performed through a written certification that identifies the workplace evaluated, the person certifying that the evaluation had been performed, the date of the hazard assessment, and, which identifies the document as a certification of hazard assessment on or about December 28, 2018.

Issued

Jun 7, 2019

Abate by

Jul 11, 2019

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(c)(2)(ii): In addition, the employer must establish and implement those elements of a written respiratory protection program necessary to ensure that any employee using a respirator voluntarily is medically able to use that respirator, and that the respirator is cleaned, stored, and maintained so that its use does not present a health hazard to the user. Exception: Employers are not required to include in a written respiratory protection program those employees whose only use of respirators involves the voluntary use of filtering facepieces (dust masks).  a) Manufacturing / Compounding Room: A written respiratory protection program was not established and implemented for employees that were permitted to wear tight-fitting elastomeric half mask respirators, on or about December 28, 2018.