OSHA Inspection: CHEMDESIGN PRODUCTS, INC.

Issued

2026-05-14

Abate by

2026-06-22

Penalty

Initial $5426 · Current $3798 Reduced

Hazardous substances 1730

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.1052(c)(1): The employer shall ensure that no employee is exposed to an airborne concentration of MC in excess of twenty-five parts of MC per million parts of air (25 ppm) as an 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA) .  a) At the establishment located at 2 Stanton Street, Marinette, Wisconsin; at B62 Methylene Chloride Distillation, the employer did not ensure that an employee was not exposed to methylene chloride above the 8-hour TWA permissible exposure limit (PEL), exposing an employee to the hazards associated with methylene chloride. On or about January 6, 2026, one employee monitored by the employer had a TWA of 30 ppm, approximately 1.2 times the PEL of 25 ppm. The exposure level was derived from one sample collected over a 575-minute sampling period.

Issued

2026-05-14

Abate by

2026-06-22

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

Hazardous substances 1730

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.1052(c)(2): The employer shall ensure that no employee is exposed to an airborne concentration of MC in excess of one hundred and twenty-five parts of MC per million parts of air (125 ppm) as determined over a sampling period of fifteen minutes.  a) At the establishment located at 2 Stanton Street, Marinette, Wisconsin; at B62 Methylene Chloride Distillation, the employer did not ensure that an employee was not exposed to methylene chloride above the short-term exposure limit (STEL), exposing an employee to the hazards associated with methylene chloride. On or about January 6, 2026, one employee monitored by the employer during drumming had a STEL of 200 ppm, approximately 1.6 times the STEL of 125 ppm. The exposure level was derived from one sample collected over a 63-minute sampling period.

Issued

2026-05-14

Abate by

2026-08-31

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

Hazardous substances 1730

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.1052(d)(2): Each employer whose employees are exposed to MC shall perform initial exposure monitoring to determine each affected employee's exposure.  a) On or about and at times prior to January 6, 2026, at the establishment located at 2 Stanton Street, Marinette, Wisconsin; the employer did not accurately determine each affected employee's exposure to methylene chloride. Employees working at the QA/QC Lab performing tasks, such as but not limited to makedown of methylene chloride standards and sample analysis, were not sampled for methylene chloride.

Issued

2026-05-14

Abate by

2026-06-22

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

Hazardous substances 1730

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.1052(f)(1): The employer shall institute and maintain the effectiveness of engineering controls and work practices to reduce employee exposure to or below the PELs except to the extent that the employer can demonstrate that such controls are not feasible. Wherever the feasible engineering controls and work practices which can be instituted are not sufficient to reduce employee exposure to or below the 8-TWA PEL or STEL, the employer shall use them to reduce employee exposure to the lowest levels achievable by these controls and shall supplement them by the use of respiratory protection that complies with the requirements of paragraph (g) of this section.  a) On or about and at times prior to January 6, 2026, at the establishment located at 2 Stanton Street, Marinette, Wisconsin; at B62 Methylene Chloride Distillation, the employer did not institute engineering controls and work practices to reduce each employee exposure to or below the PELs for methylene chloride, exposing each employee to the hazards associated with methylene chloride. One employee monitored by the employer had a TWA of 30 ppm, approximately 1.2 times the PEL of 25 ppm. The exposure level was derived from one sample collected over a 575-minute sampling period. The same employee monitored by the employer during drumming had a STEL of 200 ppm, approximately 1.6 times the STEL of 125 ppm. The exposure level was derived from one sample collected over a 63-minute sampling period.  Feasible administrative and/or engineering controls could include, but is not limited to, the following: 1. Remove the drum filling operation by directly piping the recovered methylene chloride back into the process. 2. Equip processes with local exhaust ventilation such as, but not limited to, controls described in Figure VS-15-01 of ACGIH Industrial Ventilation A Manual of Recommended Practice for Design. 3. Consider and develop work practices for reducing emissions of vapors into the breathing zone through body positioning.  Abatement due August 13, 2026.