OSHA Inspection: OPEN RANGE BEEF

Issued

Mar 15, 2019

Abate by

Apr 19, 2019

Penalty

Initial $7,246 · Current $3,623 Reduced

Hazardous substances 81108111

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.95(c)(1):  A continuing, effective Hearing Conservation Program as described in 29 CFR 1910.95(c) through (n) was not instituted when employee noise exposures equaled or exceeded an 8-hour Time-Weighted Average sound level (TWA) of 85 decibels A-weighted decibels (dBA).    Open Range Beef - 120 West Highway 20 - Gordon, Nebraska - Employer is failing to implement an effective Hearing Conservation Program, including personal noise monitoring and audiometric testing, for employees exposed to noise levels exceeding 85 an 8-hour TWA of 85 dBA including, but not limited to the following:    A) An employee operating a Four Quarter saw in the fabrication area of the facility was exposed to an 8-hour TWA noise level of 94.1 A-weighted decibels for 276 minutes on January 31, 2019. Exposure calculations include a zero increment for the 204 minutes not sampled.

Issued

Mar 15, 2019

Abate by

Apr 19, 2019

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

Hazardous substances 81108111

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.95(d)(1)(ii): 29 CFR 1910.95(d)(1)(ii): When information indicated that any employee's exposure equaled or exceeded the 8-hour time-weighted average of 85 decibels, the employer did not develop and implement a monitoring program.  Where circumstances such as high worker mobility, significant variations in sound level, or a significant component of impulse noise made area monitoring generally inappropriate, the employer did not use representative personal sampling to comply with the monitoring requirements of this paragraph:  Open Range Beef - 120 West Highway 20 - Gordon, Nebraska - Employer is failing to conduct representative personal noise dosimetry to determine employee exposure for employees who perform multiple jobs with variations in noise exposure in the fabrication and kill floor areas of the facility. Noise and sound level monitoring indicated employee exposure exceeding an 8-hour time-weighted average of 85 decibels in the following instances:  A) An employee operating a Four Quarter saw in the fabrication area of the facility was exposed to an 8-hour TWA noise level of 94.1 A-weighted decibels for 276 minutes on January 31, 2019. Exposure calculations include a zero increment for the 204 minutes not sampled. Employee(s) normally also work in the kill floor process in the afternoon, but did not during sampling because of a boiler malfunction.  B) Employee(s) operating the Cryovac unit in the Cryovac/Packaging area of the facility were exposed to sound levels ranging from 87.7 to 93.1 A-weighted decibels on January 31, 2019.

Issued

Mar 15, 2019

Abate by

Apr 19, 2019

Penalty

Initial $5,796 · Current $2,898 Reduced

Hazardous substances 0530

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(d)(1)(iii): The employer did not identify and evaluate the respiratory hazard(s) in the workplace; including a reasonable estimate of employee exposures to respiratory hazards and identification of the contaminant's chemical state and physical form:    Open Range Beef - 120 West Highway 20 - Gordon, Nebraska - Employer is failing to monitor levels of carbon dioxide gas in areas including, but not limited to in or near the Cryovac/Packaging room. Direct read monitoring on January 31, 2019, indicated atmospheric carbon dioxide levels of 8600 and 9300 parts per million (ppm). The OSHA Permissible Exposure Limit for carbon dioxide is 5000 ppm.