OSHA Inspection: BLOOMER MACHINE & FABRICATION, INC.

Issued

2019-05-10 00:00:00

Abate by

2019-10-18 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $4376.00 · Current $2625.00 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.95(c)(1): The employer did not administer a continuing, effective hearing conservation program as described in 29 CFR 1910.95 (c) through (o) whenever employee noise exposures equal or exceed an 8-hour time-weighted average  (TWA) sound level of 85 decibels measured on the A scale, or equivalently a dose of fifty percent:    (a) Welding Area; On April 15, 2019 a welder was exposed to noise at 70.89% of the permissible daily dose, or an average sound level of 86.52 dBA, as measured over 551 minutes. This dose is equivalent to an 8-hour TWA exposure of 87.52 dBA. The sound action level was adjusted to 83.4 dBA based on the ten hour work shift per the equation below.     NOTE: The 8-hour TWA sound level of 85 dBA prompts the requirement of a hearing conservation program (HCP), and shall be adjusted for work shifts longer than 8 hours. Employees worked 10 hour shifts. When making the adjustment the following formula is used: Action Level (AL)= 90 + 16.61 x Log {50/{12.5[(hours)]}; therefore, the AL in which a HCP would be required is reduced to the AL of 83.4 dBA (50% dose) to account for employees extended noise  exposure.