OSHA Inspection: SCHWABE NORTH AMERICA INC

Issued

May 10, 2023

Abate by

Jun 8, 2023

Penalty

Initial $15,625 · Current $10,938 Reduced

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.   On or about December 21, 2022, at an establishment located at 825 Challenger Drive in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in the Packaging Department on the Liquid Line; the employer had not developed written procedures for the servicing and maintenance activity of cleaning the mobile UNIBLOC 350 material transfer pump.  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

May 10, 2023

Abate by

Jun 8, 2023

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.147(d): Application of control. The established procedures for the application of energy control (the lockout or tagout procedures) shall cover the following elements and actions and shall be done in the following sequence.  On or about December 21, 2022, at an establishment located at 825 Challenger Drive in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in the Packaging Department on the Liquid Line; an employee was exposed to machine hazards associated with moving parts when they engaged in the servicing and maintenance activity of cleaning the mobile UNIBLOC 350 material transfer pump. The employer did not ensure that the employee implemented energy control application steps prior to allowing them to remove the intake and discharge piping, allowing access to the pump's rotor. The machine was still energized during the cleaning process and the pump activated while the employee was cleaning out the rotor housing connections, resulting in an amputation.  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 [1910.147(d)(5)(i)], and verification of isolation [1910.147(d)(6)] were not implemented to protect employees from machine servicing hazards.

Issued

May 10, 2023

Abate by

Jun 8, 2023

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.147(d)(6): Verification of isolation. Prior to starting work on machines or equipment that have been locked out or tagged out, the authorized employee shall verify that isolation and deenergization of the machine or equipment have been accomplished.  On or about December 29, 2022, the employer did not ensure that prior to starting work on the mobile transfer pump that was locked out that the authorized employee verified that isolation and deenergization of the machine or equipment had been accomplished.

Issued

May 10, 2023

Abate by

Jun 8, 2023

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.147(c)(5)(ii): Lockout devices and tagout devices shall be singularly identified; shall be the only devices(s) used for controlling energy; shall not be used for other purposes; and shall meet the following requirements as outlined in 1910.147(c)(5)(ii)(A) through 1910.147(c)(5)(ii)(D).  On or about December 29, 2022, at an establishment located at 825 Challenger Drive in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in the Packaging Department on the Liquid Line; A lockout lock was improperly used to keep a Glass Bottle Orientation Table (Equipment # 05-0334) from being put back into production for an extended period of time. The bottle sorter had a yellow maintenance colored lockout lock applied to its lockout point and a "supervisor" tag affixed to the lock with no identification of who applied the lock.