OSHA Inspection: SANIMAX USA LLC

Issued

Jul 19, 2023

Abate by

Mar 3, 2025

Penalty

Initial $15,625 · Current $15,625

Hazardous substances M102

General-duty citation text

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 combustible meat bone meal (MBM) particulate fire, deflagration, and explosion hazards while working at or near the protein powder system equipment consisting of indoor separating screens, indoor hammermill, outdoor bucket elevator legs, and connecting screw conveyors:  a)	On or about February 8, 2023, at a facility located at 2099 Badgerland Drive in Green Bay, WI - The indoor separating screens and associated screw auger conveying system presented fire hazards to indoor workers (i.e., smoke, toxic gases, flames) from the ignition of combustible MBM from self-heating or internal screw auger friction-based sources of ignition (i.e., misaligned internal rotating components, overheated internal rotated components, etc.).  The indoor separating screens process equipment have a history of ignition.  The separating screens lacked a means of fire protection (detection and extinguishment) to protect building occupants from fire hazards described above.  b)	On or about February 8, 2023, at a facility located at 2099 Badgerland Drive in Green Bay, WI - The indoor hammermill and downstream screw auger conveying system presented fire hazards to indoor workers (i.e., smoke, toxic gases, flames) from the ignition of combustible MBM from internal hammermill friction-based sources of ignition (i.e., introduction of foreign materials, misaligned internal rotating components, overheated internal rotated components, etc.) and self-heating.  The indoor hammermill and downstream process equipment have a history of ignition.  The hammermill lacked a means of fire protection (detection, shutdown, and extinguishment) to protect building occupants from fire hazards described above.  c)	On or about February 8, 2023, at a facility located at 2099 Badgerland Drive in Green Bay, WI - The outdoor bucket elevator legs and downstream silos presented fire hazards and potential deflagration and explosion hazards to outdoor workers from the ignition of combustible MBM from internal bucket elevator leg friction-based sources of ignition (i.e., introduction of foreign materials, misaligned belts, overheated bearings, blockages, etc.) and self-heating.  The outdoor bucket elevator legs and silos have a history of ignition.  The bucket elevator legs lacked means of ignition source protection (detection, alarms, and interlocks) to protect outdoor workers from fire, deflagration, and explosion hazards in the bucket elevator legs and connected silos. The outdoor bucket elevator legs lacked means of explosion and deflagration propagation protection.  The outdoor silos lacked means of explosion protection.

Issued

Jul 19, 2023

Abate by

Aug 16, 2023

Penalty

Initial $15,625 · Current $10,390 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.1200(h)(1):  Employers shall provide employees with effective information and training on hazardous chemicals in their work area at the time of their initial assignment, and whenever a new chemical hazard the employees have not previously been trained about is introduced into their work area. Information and training may be designed to cover categories of hazards (e.g., flammability, carcinogenicity) or specific chemicals:   On or about February 8, 2023, at a facility located at 2099 Badgerland Drive in Green Bay, WI; the employer did not provide employees with effective information and training on the hazardous chemicals in their work areas. Employees did not receive training on the combustible nature of the meat bone meal (MBM) particulate, including its ability to catch fire, deflagrate, or explode.

Issued

Jul 19, 2023

Abate by

Aug 16, 2023

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.1200(h)(2)(ii): Employees shall be informed of any operations in their work area where hazardous chemicals are present:   On or about February 8, 2023, at a facility located at 2099 Badgerland Drive in Green Bay, WI; the employer's information and training did not identify operations in the work area where combustible dust hazards were present. Employees were not informed of the locations, operations, or equipment where combustible dust hazards from meat bone meal (MBM) particulate were present or likely to be present including areas and processes such as, but not limited to; in the Bliss Room where screening, milling, and screw auger transportation occurred, and at the outdoor bucket elevators and silos where transportation and storage occurred.

Issued

Jul 19, 2023

Abate by

Aug 16, 2023

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.1200(h)(3)(i):  Employee training shall include methods and observations that may be used to detect the presence or release of a hazardous chemical in the work area (such as monitoring conducted by the employer, continuous monitoring devices, visual appearance or odor of hazardous chemicals when being released, etc.):   On or about February 8, 2023, at a facility located at 2099 Badgerland Drive in Green Bay, WI; the employer's training did not include methods and observations that may be used to detect the presence or combustible dust in the work area. Employees did not receive training on observations of meat bone meal (MBM) combustible dust hazards such as, but not limited to visible dust clouds, hazardous dust accumulations, or signs of a combustible dust fire.

Issued

Jul 19, 2023

Abate by

Aug 16, 2023

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.1200(h)(3)(ii): Employee training shall include the physical, health, simple asphyxiation, combustible dust, and pyrophoric gas hazards, as well as hazards not otherwise classified, of the chemicals in the work area:    On or about February 8, 2023, at a facility located at 2099 Badgerland Drive in Green Bay, WI; the employer's training did not include combustible dust hazards of chemicals in the work area. Employees did not receive training on combustible dust hazards of meat bone meal (MBM) particulate such as, but not limited to smoke inhalation, exposure to fires, flash fires, deflagrations, and explosions.

Issued

Jul 19, 2023

Abate by

Aug 16, 2023

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.1200(h)(3)(iii):  Employee training shall include the measures employees can take to protect themselves from these hazards, including specific procedures the employer has implemented to protect employees from exposure to hazardous chemicals, such as appropriate work practices, emergency procedures, and personal protective equipment to be used:    On or about February 8, 2023, at a facility located at 2099 Badgerland Drive in Green Bay, WI; the employer's training did not include measures employees could take to protect themselves from combustible dust hazards. Employees did not receive training on specific procedures, appropriate work practices, emergency procedure or personal protective equipment to be used when employees worked with meat bone meal (MBM) combustible dust which could expose employees to hazards such as, but not limited to smoke inhalation, fires, flash fires, deflagrations, and explosions.

Issued

Jul 19, 2023

Abate by

Sep 7, 2023

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.1200(g)(2)(ii): The chemical manufacturer or importer preparing the safety data sheet  shall ensure that it include the associated information under the heading Section 2, Hazard(s) identification (See Appendix D to 1910.1200 - Safety Data Sheets, for the specific content of each section of the safety data sheet):  On or about February 8, 2023, at a facility located at 2099 Badgerland Drive in Green Bay, WI; the Sanimax safety data sheet (SDS) for the Meat and Bone Meal product did not include the following required information under Section 2 of the SDS where the product is, by nature a combustible dust, a hazardous chemical as defined under of 29 CFR 1910.1200(c):  (i) Hazard - Combustible Dust (ii) Signal Word - Warning (iii) Hazard Statement - May form combustible dust concentrations in air