OSHA Inspection: ANGSTROM FIBER ENGLEWOOD LLC

Issued

Dec 19, 2024

Abate by

Jun 6, 2025

Penalty

Initial $16,131 · Current $16,131

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.23(b)(8): General requirements for all ladders. The employer must ensure: Ladders are used only for the purposes for which they were designed;  a) On or about September 18, 2024, the employer did not ensure that employees used ladders for the purpose for which they were designed in that employees were using a folded-up 8-foot Werner A-frame stepladder that was leaned and braced between two sets of metal frames when accessing the 44-inch platen bottom platform and an 8-foot platen at the VF1 mold station during the mold changeover.

Issued

Dec 19, 2024

Abate by

Jun 6, 2025

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.23(c)(11): Portable ladders. The employer must ensure: Portable ladders used to gain access to an upper landing surface have side rails that extend at least 3 feet (0.9 m) above the upper landing surface (see Figure D-1);  a) On or about September 18, 2024 at VF1, the employer did not ensure that the 8 foot A  frame Werner  portable stepladder being used to gain access to the 8 foot upper platen at the mold station by employees during changeovers, had side rails that extended at least 3 feet above the upper landing surface.

Issued

Dec 19, 2024

Abate by

Jun 6, 2025

Penalty

Initial $16,131 · Current $0 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.28(b)(1)(i): (1) Protection from fall hazards - Unprotected sides and edges.  (i) Except as provided elsewhere in this section, the employer must ensure that each employee on a walking-working surface with an unprotected side or edge that is 4 feet (1.2 m) or more above a lower level is protected from falling by one or more of the following:   (A) Guardrail systems; (B) Safety net systems; or (C) Personal fall protection systems, such as personal fall arrest, travel restraint, or positioning systems.  a) On or about September 18, 2024 at the unload lift table, the employer did not require the use of fall protection systems for employees who were exposed to fall hazards of approximately 6 feet while performing changeover at the unload lift table which included repositioning frames and clamps.  b) On or about September 18, 2024 at the upper platen location of vacuum forming mold station, the employer did not require the use of fall protection systems for employees who were exposed to fall hazards of approximately 8 feet while performing changeover at the mold station which includes changing the frames and clamps over the molds.

Issued

Dec 19, 2024

Abate by

Sep 9, 2025

Penalty

Initial $16,131 · Current $16,131

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.147(c)(5)(i): Protective materials and hardware. Locks, tags, chains, wedges, key blocks, adapter pins, self-locking fasteners, or other hardware shall be provided by the employer for isolating, securing or blocking of machines or equipment from energy sources.  a) On or about July 24, 2024 and thereafter, the employer did not provide locks or other hardware for employees to isolate or block machines in that not all employees were provided locks, and the employer did not provide lockout devices for pneumatic energy, lockout devices for hot and cold water valves, and blocking devices for gravity energy when performing lockout on the VF1 during changeover at the vacuum thermoforming mold station or at the transfer conveyor and unload lift table.

Issued

Dec 19, 2024

Abate by

Sep 9, 2025

Penalty

Initial $16,131 · Current $0 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.147(f)(3)(ii)(D): Group lockout or tagout devices shall be used in accordance with the procedures required by paragraph (c)(4) of this section including, but not necessarily limited to, the following specific requirements: Each authorized employee shall affix a personal lockout or tagout device to the group lockout device, group lockbox, or comparable mechanism when he or she begins work, and shall remove those devices when he or she stops working on the machine or equipment being serviced or maintained.   a) On or about September 18, 2024, the employer did not ensure that each authorized employee affixed a personal lockout or tagout device to the group lockbox when performing changeovers on equipment  including but not limited to the MAAC VF1 vacuum forming machine exposing the authorized employees to electrical energy,  pneumatic energy, water (thermal energy), and gravity energy.

Issued

Dec 19, 2024

Abate by

Sep 9, 2025

Penalty

Initial $35,488 · Current $0 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.147(c)(6)(i): The employer shall conduct a periodic inspection of the energy control procedure at least annually to ensure that the procedure and the requirements of this standard are being followed. (A) The periodic inspection shall be performed by an authorized employee other than the ones(s) utilizing the energy control procedure being inspected. (B) The periodic inspection shall be conducted to correct any deviations or inadequacies identified. (C) Where lockout is used for energy control, the periodic inspection shall include a review, between the inspector and each authorized employee, of that employee's responsibilities under the energy control procedure being inspected.  a) On or about July 24, 2024 and thereafter, the employer did not conduct periodic inspections of each energy control procedure at least annually for equipment including but not limited to the VF1 Vacuum Forming machine to correct any deviations or inadequacies identified when performing lockout during changeovers.  It was determined that the employer had deviated from and/or had inadequate procedures due to not blocking gravity energy at lifts and platens; not locking out pneumatic energy at the mold, clamps, and frames; not locking out electrical energy including but not limited to at rotating conveyors;  and not locking out pressurized hot and cold water at the mold.  Nor did the periodic inspections include a review of each authorized employee's responsibilities to lockout all of the energy sources.  The Angstrom Fiber Englewood LLC previously doing business as Woodbridge Englewood Inc. was previously cited for a violation of this occupational safety and health standard or its equivalent standard 1910.147(c)(6)(i), which was contained in OSHA inspection number 1582147, citation number 1, item number 6 and was affirmed as a final order on September 15, 2023, with respect to a workplace located at 300 Lau Parkway, Clayton, Ohio.

Issued

Dec 19, 2024

Abate by

Sep 9, 2025

Penalty

Initial $35,488 · Current $0 Reduced

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: (1) Preparation for shutdown. Before an authorized or affected employee turns off a machine or equipment, the authorized employee shall have knowledge of the type and magnitude of the energy, the hazards of the energy to be controlled, and the method or means to control the energy. (2) Machine or equipment shutdown. The machine or equipment shall be turned off or shut down using the procedures established for the machine or equipment. An orderly shutdown must be utilized to avoid any additional or increased hazard(s) to employees as a result of the equipment stoppage. (3) Machine or equipment isolation. All energy isolating devices that are needed to control the energy to the machine or equipment shall be physically located and operated in such a manner as to isolate the machine or equipment from the energy source(s). (4) Lockout or tagout device application. (4)(i) Lockout or tagout devices shall be affixed to each energy isolating device by authorized employees. (4)(ii) Lockout devices, where used, shall be affixed in a manner to that will hold the energy isolating devices in a "safe" or "off" position. (4)(iii) Tagout devices, where used, shall be affixed in such a manner as will clearly indicate that the operation or movement of energy isolating devices from the "safe" or "off" position is prohibited. (4)(iii)(A) Where tagout devices are used with energy isolating devices designed with the capability of being locked, the tag attachment shall be fastened at the same point at which the lock would have been attached. (4)(iii)(B) Where a tag cannot be affixed directly to the energy isolating device, the tag shall be located as close as safely possible to the device, in a position that will be immediately obvious to anyone attempting to operate the device. (5) Stored energy. (5)(i) Following the application of lockout or tagout devices to energy isolating devices, all potentially hazardous stored or residual energy shall be relieved, disconnected, restrained, and otherwise rendered safe. (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.  a) On or about September 18, 2024, the employer did not ensure that 1910.147(d)(1) through (d)(6) were followed by each authorized employee performing changeovers on equipment  including but not limited to the MAAC VF1 vacuum forming machine in that the authorized employees did not lockout all sources of the electrical energy,  pneumatic energy, water (thermal energy), or control the gravity energy. The authorized employees were exposed to burns, struck by, caught in, and caught between injuries.  The Angstrom Fiber Englewood LLC previously doing business as Woodbridge Englewood Inc. was previously cited for a violation of this occupational safety and health standard or its equivalent standard 1910.147(d), which was contained in OSHA inspection number 1582147, citation number 1, item number 4b and was affirmed as a final order on September 15, 2023, with respect to a workplace located at 300 Lau Parkway, Clayton, Ohio.