OSHA Inspection: KENOSHA BEEF INTERNATIONAL, LTD. DBA BIRCHWOOD FOODS

Issued

Mar 19, 2020

Abate by

Mar 27, 2020

Penalty

Initial $13,494 · Current $13,494

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.120(q)(1): The employer did not develop and implement an emergency response plan to handle anticipated emergencies prior to commencement of emergency response operations:    (a) On or about October 11, 2019, the employer did not develop and implement an emergency response plan to handle anticipated emergencies prior to commencement of emergency response operations when carbon dioxide began leaking due to a valve failure in the Birchwood North Grinding Room, thereby exposing employees to respiratory hazards.

Issued

Mar 19, 2020

Abate by

Mar 27, 2020

Penalty

Initial $8,193 · Current $0 Reduced

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:    (a) On or about October 11, 2019, in the Birchwood North Grinding Room, the employer did not evaluate the respiratory hazards in the workplace after a carbon dioxide leak occurred and required evacuation under the company's emergency action plan. Maintenance employees were allowed to work in the environment after the evacuation was completed, while the leak was still active, additionally, the employer resumed production in the grinding room without determining the concentration of carbon dioxide in the workspace, exposing employees to respiratory hazards.

Issued

Mar 19, 2020

Abate by

Mar 26, 2020

Penalty

Initial $8,193 · Current $2,000 Reduced

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) On and before October 10, 2019, employees in the Birchwood North Grinding Room were not provided effective information and training on the means to identify the presence of a hazardous chemical in the work area at the time of their initial assignment. Employees were trained that a release of carbon dioxide could be recognized by a white cloud of water vapor in an area, however, numerous employees were provided ineffective training in that they believed that the carbon dioxide hazard was limited to the space where the visible water vapor cloud was present. The training on carbon dioxide hazards was ineffective in this regard, exposing employees to respiratory hazards.