OSHA Inspection: TEXTRON AVIATION INC.

Issued

Jun 9, 2020

Abate by

Jan 15, 2021

Penalty

Initial $13,494 · Current $10,121 Reduced

General-duty citation text

OSH ACT of 1970 Section (5)(a)(1): OSH ACT of 1970 SECTION (5)(a)(1): The employer did not furnish employment and  a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to struck by hazards:    The employer is failing to protect employees from autoclave explosion hazards.  This was most recently documented on or about December 27, 2019 at the Textron Aviation Inc., East Campus, Building 36, Plant 3 area located at 130 N. Webb Road, Wichita, Kansas.  On December 27, 2019, the employer operated the liquid nitrogen pressurized vessel, referred to as Autoclave 8.  As the pressure in the autoclave built, a catastrophic thermal fatigue failure occurred, which resulted in an explosion, which critically injured 2 employees, potentially exposing employees to broken bone, concussion, crushing, laceration, and struck-by hazards.          Among other methods, feasible and acceptable means to correct this hazard includes but is not limited to the following:     1)Developing and implementing measures to effectively monitor, control, discover, maintain and repair pressure vessels, including autoclaves, by following:    (a) American Petroleum Institute (API) 510: 3.1.19 Procedures for deferring inspections, 3.1.66 Conduct risk based inspection, 4.1.2 Owner responsible for QA inspection / repair system plan, 4.1.3 Management of change requirements, 5.1.2 Development of an inspection plan, 5.1.3 Minimum requirements of inspection plan, 5.5.6.1 Susceptible temperature range, 5.5.6.2 Susceptible locations, 5.5.7 Requirements for operator surveillance, 5.8.7 Brittle fracture Inspection, 6.6.2 QA Process, 7.1.2 Change in service, 7.2.1 Remaining Life Calculations.    (b) American Petroleum Institute (API) 572: 4.2.9 Thermal Fatigue Inspection Practices, 4.2.9.3 Critical Factors, 4.2.9.7 Inspection Monitoring.    (c) American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC) Section VIII 1-2019: UG-20 Design Temperature.    (d) National Board Inspection Code (NBIC) Part 2: 1.5.2 Pre-Inspection Activities, 2.3.2 Service Conditions, 2.3.5.4 Records Review, 3.4.3 Temperature Affects, 4.4.4 Remaining Service Life Assessment Methodology, 4.4.6 Identification of Damage Mechanism, 4.4.7 Determine Inspection Intervals, 4.4.7.1 Method for Estimating Inspections Intervals for Pressure Retaining Items Subject to Erosion or Corrosion.