OSHA Inspection: BENT TUBES LLC

Issued

Apr 17, 2020

Abate by

May 15, 2020

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $4,723

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.     The employer did not develop, document, and utilize energy control procedures when employees were engaged in servicing and maintenance work on equipment including but not limited to the CNC tube bending machines, robotic tube benders, end forming machines, and brazing machines.    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.

Issued

Apr 17, 2020

Abate by

Aug 15, 2020

Penalty

Initial $9,446 · Current $0 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.147(d): The established procedure for the application of energy control (the lockout or tagout procedures) did not cover the actions listed in and was not done in sequence as required by 29 CFR 1910.147(d)(1)-(6):    On or about January 9, 2020, an employee was exposed to machine hazards associated with moving parts when they engaged in servicing and maintenance tasks on the Ultra Clean Bench Mount Sponge Launcher UCG2-0719.  The employer did not ensure that employees implemented energy control application steps prior to allowing them to remove guards and clear jams.  The machine was not deenergized prior to the employee engaging in the servicing / maintenance activity.    As a result, the remaining applicable energy control elements, involving machine isolation [1910.147(d)(3)], lockout/tagout device application [1910.147(d)(4)], dissipation of residual energy [1910(d)(5)(i)], and verification of isolation [1910.147(d)(6)] were not implemented to protect employees from machine hazards.

Issued

Apr 17, 2020

Abate by

Aug 15, 2020

Penalty

Initial $6,747 · Current $3,000 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)  An Alpine Bender AB CNC30EBR S/N 161102 utilized to bend pipe and tubing did not have adequate machine guarding to prevent employees from accessing the point of operation or being struck by the swing radius of the tooling and material as it automatically operates through the cycle.    (b)  A CSM Pipe Bender Model CNC50TBREL S/N 100301 52B utilized to bend pipe and tubing did not have adequate machine guarding to prevent employees from accessing the point of operation or being struck by the swing radius of the tooling and material as it automatically operates through the cycle.    (c)  A Horn Machine Tools, Inc. CNC Tube Bender Model 80TSR S/N 051212 296B utilized to bend pipe and tubing did not have adequate machine guarding to prevent employees from accessing the point of operation or being struck by the swing radius of the tooling and material as it automatically operates through the cycle.    (d)  An Eaton Leonard CNC Bender Model VB 100HP S/N VB 100 HP RH 860345-LB-08/05 utilized to bend pipe and tubing did not have adequate machine guarding to prevent employees from accessing the point of operation or being struck by the swing radius of the tooling and material as it automatically operates through the cycle.