Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard:

OSH Act of 1970 Section (5)(a)(1): The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely cause death or serious physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to combustible stainless steel and aluminum metal dust deflagration, explosion, and other fire hazards while working at or near dust collection systems that were not designed and located to prevent or minimize employee exposure in the event of an internal deflagration or other fire event: a) On or about May 19, 2016 the outdoor Dust Hog dust collector FJL2HH55 cartridge filter dust collector servicing the sanding operation was utilized to collect combustible stainless steel metal dust and presented the following recognized hazards to employees: (1) The Dust Hog dust collector lacked a means of explosion protection. (2) The Dust Hog dust collector lacked a means of deflagration propagation protection (isolation) for the upstream operations. b) On or about May 19, 2016 the indoor Dust Master Portable dust collector SNP8Y-V enclosureless dust collector servicing the Aluminum Timesaver Sanding Operation was utilized to collect combustible aluminum dust and presented fire and flash fire hazards to employees. Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable method to correct these hazards is to follow the guidance in the National Fire Protection Association's (NFPA) Standard 484, "Standard for Combustible Metals, 2015 edition" such as, but not limited to: Section 5.2.1 (dust hazard analysis) 9.4.11.1 (bonding and grounding), 9.4.13.2 (location of dry-type dust collectors), 9.4.13.13.1 (explosion protection), and 9.4.13.13.3.1 (isolation devices), 9.4.13.14 (media collector considerations), 9.4.13.15.2 (enclosureless collectors prohibited) and 9.4.12(wet-type dust collectors). Specifically, determine the hazardous properties of the specific dust(s) being collected in the collectors and perform a detailed dust hazard analysis of the processes and equipment in order to determine the most appropriate and safest method of dust capture and collection (i.e. the continued use of a dry-type dust media filter collector versus a dry-type dust collector [cyclone] installation versus a wet-type dust collector installation);