OSHA Inspection: FIBERGLASS SOLUTIONS, LLC

Issued

Sep 7, 2022

Abate by

Oct 27, 2022

Penalty

Initial $4,972 · Current $4,972

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.132(d)(2): The employer shall verify that the required workplace hazard assessment has been performed through a written certification that identifies the workplace evaluated; the person certifying that the evaluation has been performed; the date(s) of the hazard assessment; and, which identifies the document as a certification of hazard assessment.  On or about May 3, 2022, at an establishment located at 995 Waube Lane in Green Bay, Wisconsin; the employer had not verified that the required workplace hazard assessment had been performed through a written certification that identified the workplace evaluated, the identity of the person certifying that the evaluation had been performed, the date the hazard assessment was done, and identified the document as a certification of hazard assessment.

Issued

Sep 7, 2022

Abate by

Oct 27, 2022

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.138(a): General requirements. Employers shall select and require employees to use appropriate hand protection when employees' hands are exposed to hazards such as those from skin absorption of harmful substances; severe cuts or lacerations; severe abrasions; punctures; chemical burns; thermal burns; and harmful temperature extremes.  On or about May 3, 2022, at an establishment located at 995 Waube Lane in Green Bay, Wisconsin; the employer did not require employees to use appropriate hand protection when employees' hands were exposed to skin irritation and chemical burns from fiberglass resins such as, but not limited to, Stypol Unsaturated Polyester Resin, Polylite Polyester Resin, Dion Polyester Resin, and Lyondell Basell Neutral LVOC ISO.

Issued

Sep 7, 2022

Abate by

Oct 27, 2022

Penalty

Initial $4,972 · Current $0 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.134(c)(1): In any workplace where respirators are necessary to protect the health of the employee or whenever respirators are required by the employer, the employer shall establish and implement a written respiratory protection program with worksite-specific procedures. The program shall be updated as necessary to reflect those changes in workplace conditions that affect respirator use. The employer shall include in the program the following provisions of this section, as applicable:  On or about June 8, 2022, at an establishment located at 995 Waube Lane in Green Bay, Wisconsin; the employer did not establish and implement a written respiratory protection program when respirators were necessary to protect the health of employees from hazardous chemicals such as, but not limited to Particulates Not Otherwise Regulated (PNOR) exceeding the 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA) permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 15 mg/m^3 while grinding and sanding fiberglass.  All provisions of 29 CFR 1910.134(c) through (m) shall be contained in a written respiratory protection program. Key elements include, but are not limited to the following:  1) Respirator selection  2) Fit testing  3) Training on maintenance, use and care of respirators  4) Program evaluation  5) Recordkeeping

Issued

Sep 7, 2022

Abate by

Oct 27, 2022

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

Hazardous substances 9135

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(e)(1): General. The employer shall provide a medical evaluation to determine the employee's ability to use a respirator, before the employee is fit tested or required to use the respirator in the workplace. The employer may discontinue an employee's medical evaluations when the employee is no longer required to use a respirator.   At an establishment located at 995 Waube Lane in Green Bay, Wisconsin; the employer did not provide an employee working with fiberglass and resin dust a medical evaluation to determine the employee's ability to use a respirator. The employee was provided and utilized a 3M 6300 tight-fitting half-face elastomeric respirator.

Issued

Sep 7, 2022

Abate by

Oct 27, 2022

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.134(f)(1):The employer shall ensure that employees using a tight-fitting facepiece respirator pass an appropriate qualitative fit test (QLFT) or quantitative fit test (QNFT) as stated in this paragraph.  On or about June 8, 2022, at an establishment located at 995 Waube Lane in Green Bay, Wisconsin; the employer did not ensure an employee sanding and grinding on fiberglass and resin passed an appropriate fit test (QLFT nor QNFT) when the employee was provided a 3M half-face tightfitting elastomeric respirator and the employee was overexposed to particulate not otherwise regulated (PNOR) exceeding the permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 15 mg/m^3.

Issued

Sep 7, 2022

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(h)(2)(i): All respirators shall be stored to protect them from damage, contamination, dust, sunlight, extreme temperatures, excessive moisture, and damaging chemicals, and they shall be packed or stored to prevent deformation of the facepiece and exhalation valve.  a) On or about May 3, 2022, at an establishment located at 995 Waube Lane in Green Bay, Wisconsin; the employer did not ensure all respirators were stored to protect them from damage, contamination, and dust. A 3M half-face respirator (M6300) was laying on a workbench in the fiberglass fabrication area which was covered with fiberglass and resin particulates.  b) On or about May 3, 2022, at an establishment located at 995 Waube Lane in Green Bay, Wisconsin; the employer did not ensure all respirators were stored to protect them from damage, contamination, and dust. A stack of new N95 filtering facepiece respirators were stored on a toolbox that was open and exposed to fiberglass and resin particulates. Employees would wear the respirators while cutting, grinding, and sanding on fiberglass pieces.

Issued

Sep 7, 2022

Abate by

Oct 27, 2022

Penalty

Initial $4,972 · Current $4,972

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(a)(2): A respirator shall be provided to each employee when such equipment is necessary to protect the health of such employee. The employer shall provide the respirators which are applicable and suitable for the purpose intended. The employer shall be responsible for the establishment and maintenance of a respiratory protection program, which shall include the requirements outlined in paragraph (c) of this section. The program shall cover each employee required by this section to use a respirator.   On or about June 8, 2022, at an establishment located at 995 Waube Lane in Green Bay, Wisconsin; the employer did not provide and require the use of a respirator for each employee when such equipment was necessary to protect the health of the employee. One fiberglass technician employee working at the south end of the facility was overexposed to the total dust fraction of particulate not otherwise regulated (PNOR), which exceeded the 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA) permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 15 mg/m^3 and was not required to wear a respirator.

Issued

Sep 7, 2022

Abate by

Oct 27, 2022

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

Hazardous substances 9135

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.1000(a)(2): An employee's exposure to any substance in Table Z-1, the exposure limit of which is not preceded by a "C", shall not exceed the 8-hour Time-Weighted Average given for that substance any 8-hour work shift of a 40-hour work week:  On or about June 8, 2022, at an establishment located at 995 Waube Lane in Green Bay, Wisconsin; a fiberglass employee was exposed to an 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA) of 18.3 mg/m^3 for total dust fraction of particulate not otherwise regulated (PNOR), approximately 1.2 times the Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) of 15 mg/m^3. The exposure level was derived from a sample collected over a 440-minute sampling period with zero exposure assumed for the unsampled period of 40 minutes.

Issued

Sep 7, 2022

Abate by

Oct 27, 2022

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

Hazardous substances 9135

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.1000(e): To achieve compliance with paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section, administrative or engineering controls must first be determined and implemented whenever feasible. When such controls are not feasible to achieve full compliance, protective equipment or any other protective measures shall be used to keep the exposure of employees to air contaminants within the limits prescribed in this section. Any equipment and/or technical measures used for this purpose must be approved for each particular use by a competent industrial hygienist or other technically qualified person. Whenever respirators are used, their use shall comply with 1910.134.  On or about June 8, 2022, at an establishment located at 995 Waube Lane in Green Bay, Wisconsin; the employer did not determine and implement feasible administrative or engineering controls to achieve compliance with paragraph (a) of this section when an employee sanding and grinding fiberglass while working at the south end of the facility was overexposed to the total dust fraction of particulate not otherwise regulated (PNOR), which exceeded the 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA) permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 15 mg/m^3.  Applicable engineering or administrative controls may include, but are not limited to the following:  1) Conduct thorough air studies in the Finisher and Small Parts Finisher areas to verify PNOR sources, existing controls, employee proximity to sources and job tasks which expose employees in order to determine the most effective engineering and administrative controls.  2) Implement the use of vacuum assisted sanding equipment in order to capture the majority of dust at point of generation. Supplement vacuum assisted sanding equipment with local exhaust dust collection in the form of dust collectors (large fixed systems or small portable systems) utilizing flexible ducting that can be relocated near the point of generation. Utilize the dust collection system to capture dust in tasks where vacuum assisted sanding equipment is ineffective or unusable.  3) Supplement local exhaust ventilation methods (number 2 above) with increased general dilution ventilation. Increase air changes with proper air filtering to remove dust that escapes the local exhaust ventilation controls from the work areas. This can be achieved through improving the HVAC system and/or installing additional dust collection equipment.

Issued

Sep 7, 2022

Abate by

Oct 27, 2022

Penalty

Initial $4,144 · Current $0 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.1200(e)(1)(i): A list of the hazardous chemicals known to be present using a product identifier that is referenced on the appropriate safety data sheet (the list may be compiled for the workplace as a whole or for individual work areas)  On or about May 3, 2022, at a workplace located at 995 Waube Lane in Green Bay, Wisconsin; the list of hazardous chemicals kept in the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) binder in the employee breakroom was not up to date with the hazardous chemicals known to be present in the workplace. Hazardous chemicals not on the list include, but are not limited to, Unsaturated Polyester Resin STYPOL 040-8086 and Polylite 33195-30.

Issued

Sep 7, 2022

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.1200(f)(6)(ii): Product identifier and words, pictures, symbols, or combination thereof, which provide at least general information regarding the hazards of the chemicals, and which, in conjunction with the other information immediately available to employees under the hazard communication program, will provide employees with the specific information regarding the physical and health hazards of the hazardous chemical.  On or about May 3, 2022, at at an establishment located at 995 Waube Lane in Green Bay, Wisconsin; two 5-gallon buckets containing "White Butter" and "White Resin" were not labeled with the hazards associated with each mixture.

Issued

Sep 7, 2022

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.1200(g)(8): The employer shall maintain in the workplace copies of the required safety data sheets for each hazardous chemical, and shall ensure that they are readily accessible during each work shift to employees when they are in their work area(s). (Electronic access and other alternatives to maintaining paper copies of the safety data sheets are permitted as long as no barriers to immediate employee access in each workplace are created by such options.)  On or about May 3, 2022, at an establishment located at 995 Waube Lane in Green Bay, Wisconsin; the employer did not maintain copies of the required Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for Polynt Stypol 040-8086 Poly Resin and Polynt Polylite 33195-30. The binder in the breakroom and the only means accessible to employees did not have the two Safety Data Sheets.