Region 2 News Release: 13-2323-NEW (osha 13-116)
Dec. 10, 2013
Contact: Leni Fortson Joanna Hawkins
Phone: 215-861-5102 215-861-5101
Email: : uddyback-fortson.lenore@dol.gov hawkins.joanna@dol.gov

US Labor Department's OSHA cites industrial gas manufacturer Welco
Acetylene Corp. for 19 serious safety violations at Newark facility

NEWARK, N.J. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Welco Acetylene Corp. for 19 serious safety violations following an inspection of its repackaging facility at 321 Roanoke Ave. in Newark. The inspection began in May under OSHA's national emphasis program for process safety management for covered chemical facilities. Proposed fines total $49,200.

"The safety hazards found at Welco's facility put its workers at serious risk of injury and must be addressed promptly," said Kris Hoffman, director of the OSHA Parsippany Area Office. "Employers are responsible for implementing proper procedures to protect their workers and ensure a safe workplace."

The serious violations include the company's failure to:

• Maintain combustible waste material in appropriate metal receptacles.
• Correct equipment deficiencies.
• Provide training to fork truck operators.
• Ensure a diked wall for an acetone storage tank was liquid-tight.
• Develop and implement written operating procedures to conduct activities safely and maintain the ongoing integrity of process equipment.
• Implement safe work practices regarding the accountability of outside contractors or evaluate contractor safety information and performance.
• Develop and implement equipment-specific procedures to control hazardous energy.
• Follow recognized and generally accepted engineering practices for inspecting and testing equipment.
• Maintain historical inspection and testing records for process equipment.
• Compile process safety information before conducting a process hazard analysis.
• Maintain piping and instrumentation diagrams.
• Conduct facility siting adequately, as part of the process hazard analysis, to assess hazards on-site.
• Ensure written operating procedures address safety systems and their functions.
• Perform a required management of change and update written operating procedures accordingly.

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.

Welco Acetylene Corp. has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA area director in Parsippany, or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Parsippany Area Office at 973-263-1003.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

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U.S. Department of Labor news materials are accessible at http://www.dol.gov. The information above is available in large print, Braille, audio tape or disc from the COAST office upon request by calling 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755.