Government safety agencies are tasked with assuring safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance. The enforcement of standards is accomplished by onsite inspections. If standards are not met a company can be cited and possibly fined. Here is a recent story regarding an onsite inspection.
Because this company will have the opportunity to contest
this fine, the APSB has left out the company name.
Employees at an aluminium company were exposed to amputation, fall hazards and unsafe
crane operations, according to a U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety
and Health Administration inspection. OSHA has issued two willful, one repeat
and two serious safety violations, carrying proposed penalties of over $78,000
Euros. The inspection at the manufacturing facility that produces aluminum
material for use in automotive rims and other parts was initiated following a
complaint. The company has also been placed in OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement
Program.
"This company allowed workers to stand on blocks
elevated by a forklift, and that's just one visible example of the total
disregard for worker safety and health at this plant," said the local OSHA
area director. "By placing company in our Severe Violator Enforcement
Program, OSHA is putting the company on notice that this is unacceptable."
OSHA's Spring 2014, inspection found one willful violation
for insufficient machine guarding on a robot cell that exposed workers to
amputation hazards. A second willful violation was cited for failing to remove
a crane with broken safety mechanisms from service. A willful violation is one
committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirement,
or with plain indifference to employee safety and health.
Employees were exposed to a fall hazard of more than 23
feet because the company had not installed guardrails over an open pit, and
employees that worked in the pit area were not provided fall protection. The
aluminium company was previously cited at this facility for this same violation
in 2012.
OSHA issues repeat violations if an employer was previously
cited for the same or a similar violation of any standard, regulation, rule or
order at any facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.
During the inspection, workers were found standing on
aluminum blocks elevated by a forklift to perform tasks on the furnace. This
was an inappropriate use of the forklifts, and it exposed workers to falls of
at least 2.5 meters. OSHA found that live electric equipment operating at high
voltages was not guarded against human contact. These hazards resulted in the
issuance of two serious violations. A serious violation occurs when there is
substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a
hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog is glad that these issues were
found before a worker, contractor or visitor was injured or killed. The APSB
has posted incident(s) involving injuries and fatalities for each and every
violation that this aluminium company was cited and fined.
A serious violation occurs when 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. During the onsite inspection the
government safety officer observed (and subsequently cited the company) an
employee was exposed to a fall hazard of approximately 8 feet while standing on
a primary aluminum block which was elevated by a forklift in order to perform
tasks on the furnace. Fall protection was not provided to employees performing
the task. OSHA states “if an employee is exposed to falling 6 feet (l .8
meters) or more from an unprotected side or edge, the employer must select
either a guardrail system, safety net system, or personal fall arrest system to
protect the worker.” That is the regulation in the United States, whilst the
Health & Safety Executive (UK) has similar requirements. Some aluminium
companies in our industry have lowered the threshold for mandatory fall
protection equipment. Which is good, because the APSB knows of injuries and one
fatality where a fall of less the 6 feet occurred. With that said the APSB has
recently been in Asia and one aluminium company requires their workers to wear
hard hats with chin straps. Which prevents that hardhat from being dislodge
during falls.
Another serious violation was cited when live parts of electric equipment operating at 50 volts or more were not guarded against accidental contact by approved cabinets of other forms of approved enclosures, or other means listed under this provision.
A willful violation is defined (by OSHA) as
a violation in which the employer either knowingly failed to comply with a
legal requirement (purposeful disregard) or acted with plain indifference to
employee safety. The government safety inspectors observed an overhead
crane, continued to be operated after daily inspections identified a safety
mechanism as being inoperable or in disrepair. The company was sighted for a
willful violation.
Lastly the company was cited for a willful
violation for one or more methods of machine guarding was not provided to
protect the operator and other employees in the machine area from hazards such
as those created by point of operation, ingoing nip points, rotating parts,
flying chips and sparks.
During
the onsite inspection the effective guarding was not in place for a saw.
Employees were able to enter the enclosed cell area to both measure production
pieces for quality assurance and prepare production pieces for shipment.
Employees were exposed to the movement of the robot arm by placing themselves
inside the cell to complete tasks. The APSB has posted numerous incidents where
insufficient machine guarding has either injured or killed an employee. One
common comment that the APSB has heard is that “this machine is 20+ years old”.
Age of a machine has no bearing on whether or not it should have guarding
properly installed and maintained. All equipment that has the potential to
injure a worker should have guarding installed. Though new equipment should be
designed to meet the current safety regulations, older equipment may have been
built prior without the proper safety mechanisms. All old equipment needs to be
inspected to ensure that it meets current regulations. If the equipment is
found not to be compliant, first contact the equipment manufacturer for
assistance. Do not attempt to change or alter any machinery without the
assistance of the machinery manufacturer. Government safety organizations will
always ask “was the manufacturer consulted”, “please show documentation of the
consultation with the manufacturer.”
Finally the company was cited for a repeat
violation of covers and/or guardrails were not provided to protect personnel
from the hazards of open pits, tanks, vats, ditches, etc.
Employees were exposed to a fall hazard
of approximately 7 meters while working on top of the aluminum casting pit.
Employees are required to stand on an aluminum grated plank which spans the
width of the pit. Guardrails are not present to prevent employees from falling
into the pit. The hazard of pit guarding is a relatively recent acknowledgement
for our industry. The awareness of the need of pit guarding was brought forth
by several incidents involving by injuries and fatalities. The Aluminum
Association’s Regional Cast House Safety Workshop to be held next month in
Nashville, Tennessee in the United States will have a presentation on Pit
Guarding. Program can be viewed here.
The APSB is confident that the
violations that the aluminium company were cited for will be
corrected immediately and procedures will be installed to prevent recurrence of
this issues.
Please Comment.
2 comments:
"OSHA states “if an employee is exposed to falling 6 feet (l .8 meters) or more from an unprotected side or edge, the employer must select either a guardrail system, safety net system, or personal fall arrest system to protect the worker.”"
6 feet is the standard for the construction industry. For general industry, which this company would fall under, the standard is actually 4 feet. There is a lot of overlap, but OSHA has a different set of standards for construction (1926) and general industry (1910).
"OSHA states “if an employee is exposed to falling 6 feet (l .8 meters) or more from an unprotected side or edge, the employer must select either a guardrail system, safety net system, or personal fall arrest system to protect the worker.”"
6 feet is the standard for the construction industry. For general industry, which this company would fall under, the standard is actually 4 feet. Though there's a lot of overlap, OSHA has a different set of standards for the construction industry (1926) and general industry (1910).
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