OSHA Inspection: VT GROUP

Issued

Dec 12, 2025

Abate by

Oct 8, 2026

Penalty

Initial $8,511 · Current $4,256 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.1026(d)(2)(i):The employer shall perform initial monitoring to determine the 8-hour TWA exposure for each employee on the basis of a sufficient number of personal breathing zone air samples to accurately characterize full shift exposure on each shift, for each job classification, in each work area. Where an employer does representative sampling instead of sampling all employees in order to meet this requirement, the employer shall sample the employee(s) expected to have the highest chromium (VI) exposures.  A)     Onboard the U.S.S. Connecticut, from approximately August of 2024 to July of 2025 employees were required to mechanically remove coatings that contained large amounts of chromium compounds from certain ship's surfaces prior to scheduled hot work.  The employer did not perform initial air sampling to determine whether there was airborne chromium, and how much hexavalent chrome was present.  Removing surface coatings with mechanical means such s grinding and use of Needle guns would produce large amounts of dust in the vicinity of the worker, and the employer needs to determine whether or not they are exposed to hexavalent chrome compounds above the permissible exposure limit, and if so, what precautions need to be taken to protect the employees.