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

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 exposed to fire and explosion hazards at the tannin drying operation and leather dust collection operation. a) Tannin Drying Operation. The C.E. Rogers Box Dryer contained airborne combustible dust of potential explosive concentrations and was not equipped with explosion prevention, suppression, or venting systems, February 22, 1996. b) Tannin Drying Operation. The bag filling operation was not equipped with a dust collection system to capture dust emitted where tannin exits the auger and falls into the bags, February 22, 1996. c) Sanding Operations. The Fabricmax Leather Dust Collector contained airborne combustible dust of potential explosive concentrations and it's exhaust port was not equipped with a fire resistant seal where it exited the building wall, March 22, 1996. d) Sanding Operations. The Fabricmax Leather Dust Collector's exhaust port was not provided with at least 18 inches of clearance from the duct to combustible material where it exited the building wall, March 22, 1996. e) Sanding Operations. The Fabricmax Leather Dust Collector was not equipped with a negative pressure relief valve to protect the integrity of the exhaust system, March 22, 1996. f) Sanding Operations. The Fabricmax Leather Dust Collector's suction duct was not equipped with automatic closing fire doors on both sides of the wall separating the production areas from the dust collector room, March 22, 1996. ABATEMENT NOTE: General methods of abatement include, but are not limited to, the following: 1) Install an explosion prevention, suppression, or venting system on the Dryer per the recommendations of a competent engineering connsultant, instance a). 2) Link a local exhaust hood and ductwork per NFPA from the bag filling operation to the main exhaust system of the Dryer, instance b). 3) Install a perimeter seal and non-combustible flashing around the exhaust ductwork, instances c) and d). 4) Install a negative pressure relief valve and automatic closing fire doors on the dust collector ductwork, instances e) and f).