OSHA Inspection: FLUVITEX USA, INC.

Issued

May 1, 2019

Penalty

Initial $9,282 · Current $6,497 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.147(c)(4)(i): Procedures shall be developed, documented and utilized for the control of potentially hazardous energy when employees are engaged in the activities covered by this section.  Note: Exception: The employer need not document the required procedure for a particular machine or equipment, when all of the following elements exist: (1) The machine or equipment has no potential for stored or residual energy or reaccumulation of stored energy after shut down which could endanger employees; (2) the machine or equipment has a single energy source which can be readily identified and isolated; (3) the isolation and locking out of that energy source will completely deenergize and deactivate the machine or equipment; (4) the machine or equipment is isolated from that energy source and locked out during servicing or maintenance; (5) a single lockout device will achieve a locker-out condition; (6) the lockout device is under the exclusive control of the authorized employee performing the servicing or maintenance; (7) the servicing or maintenance does not create hazards for other employees; and (8) the employer, in utilizing this exception, has had no accidents involving the unexpected activation or reenergization of the machine or equipment during servicing or maintenance.  a. At the site, the employer did not document specific procedures for the control of hazardous energy when employees performed servicing and maintenance activities, such as but not limited to, clearing a jam at the cross lapper/compensator on line 1.

Issued

May 1, 2019

Penalty

Initial $9,282 · Current $6,497 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.147(c)(7)(i)(A): Each authorized employee shall receive training in the recognition of applicable hazardous energy sources, the type and magnitude of the energy available in the workplace, and the methods and means necessary for energy isolation and control.  a. The employer did not provide training to all employees that performed servicing and maintenance on machines throughout the facility.

Issued

May 1, 2019

Penalty

Initial $9,282 · Current $6,497 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.147(c)(7)(i)(B): Each affected employee shall be instructed in the purpose and use of the energy control procedure.  a. Throughout the facility, affected employees were not trained on the purpose and use of energy control procedures.

Issued

May 1, 2019

Abate by

Jun 30, 2021

Penalty

Initial $9,282 · Current $6,497 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.147(d): Application of control. The established procedures for the application of energy control (the lockout or tagout procedures) shall cover the following elements and actions and shall be done in the following sequence as required by 20 CFR 1910.147(d)(1) through (d)(6):   a. On or about December 26, 2018, in the production area, employees were exposed to machine hazards associated with moving parts and in going nip points while clearing a fabric jam from rollers of the cross lapper/compensator on line one. The employer failed to implement energy control application steps as the machine was not shut down or turned off to perform the servicing work [per the 1910.147(d)(2) requirements]. As a result, the remaining applicable energy control elements, involving machine isolation [(d)(3)], LOTO device application [(d)(4)], dissipation of residual energy [(d)(5)(i)], and verification of isolation [(d)(6)], were not implemented to protect employees from machine servicing hazards.

Issued

May 1, 2019

Abate by

Jun 30, 2021

Penalty

Initial $5,304 · Current $3,713 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.178(l)(1)(i): The employer shall ensure that each powered industrial truck operator is competent to operate a powered industrial truck safely, as demonstrated by the successful completion of the training and evaluation specified in this paragraph (l).  a. The employer did not ensure that all powered industrial truck operators completed the training and evaluations as required.

Issued

May 1, 2019

Abate by

Jun 30, 2021

Penalty

Initial $6,630 · Current $4,641 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.212(a)(1): Types of guarding. One or more methods of machine guarding shall be provided to protect the operator and other employees in the machine area from hazards such as those created by point of operation, ingoing nip points, rotating parts, flying chips and sparks. Examples of guarding methods are-barrier guards, two-hand tripping devices, electronic safety devices, etc.  a. On line 1 between the compensator and thread rack, there was no guarding in place to protect employees from the ingoing nip point of the gear and belt that moved with the rollers in the compensator.

Issued

May 1, 2019

Abate by

Jun 30, 2021

Penalty

Initial $1,327 · Current $608 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1904.29(b)(3): How quickly must each injury or illness be recorded? You must enter each recordable injury or illness on the OSHA 300 Log and 301 Incident Report within seven (7) calendar days of receiving information that a recordable injury or illness has occurred.  Located at Fluvitex USA Inc, in Groveport, OH:      a. On the 2018 OSHA 300 log, the employer did not record a workplace fatality that occurred on or about December 26, 2018 within 7 calendar days.