Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard: DUST&FUMES

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: 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 accidentally exposed to the hazard of fine dust at high temperatures: a)The ECC Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) which described the full safety precautions to be followed before workers were allowed to open the ESP hatch on the Indirect Thermal Desorption (ITD) precipitator was inadequate in that: The SOP did not address or require the use of the air lance prior to opening the precipitator hatch to ensure that there had not been clogging and/or backup of dust in the precipitator. The SOP did not require visual observation at the soil conditioner interface opening to determine if concentration or backup of dust remained in the precipitator. One feasible and acceptable abatement method, among others, to correct this hazard is: Develop a comprehensive SOP that fully describes safety precautions to be followed before opening the ESP hatch including but not limited to: 1.a requirement to operate the air lance before opening the ESP hatch; 2.a requirement that employees use visual observation prior to hatch opening to ensure that there is no residual concentration of dust in the precipitator;