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

SCRR 71-112A: Failed to furnish a place of employment which is free of recognized hazards which may cause death or serious physical harm to his employees and comply with this regulation and other occupational safety and health rules and regulations promulgated under Chapter 15 of Title 41, Code of Laws, State of South Carolina, 1976, as amended, as follows: A. Employer knew or should have known that employees operating and working around gas fired car bottom furnaces on or before September 1, 2000 were exposed to the hazards of explosion resulting from the release of Hydrogen. A feasible and useful means of abatement, among other methods, is to develop and implement a preventative maintenance program to include as a minimum the following elements: 1)Risk Assessment to identify hazards associated with the furnace operations using NFPA #86 Standards for ovens and furnaces as well as any other applicable consensus codes. 2)Develop and implement regularly scheduled inspection, testing, and maintenance of all safety devices. 3)Develop and implement and operational and maintenance checklist for equipment in the heat treat area such as but not limited to furnaces, chambers, cars, programmable controllers and chart recorders, valves, car tracks, thermocouples and thermocouple wires. 4)All inspections and testing shall be documented. B. Employer knew or should have known that employees operating and working around Lindberg gas fired car bottom furnaces on or before September 1, 2000 were exposed to the hazards of explosion by uncontrollable releases of Hydrogen associated with normal operations of the furnaces. A feasible and useful means of abatement, among others, is to develop and implement a standard operating procedure to include the following: 1)Emergency operating procedures, and emergency shutdown procedures. C. Employer knew or should have known that employees operating and working around Lindberg gas fired car bottom furnaces on or before September 1, 2000 were exposed to the hazards of explosion resulting from the release of Hydrogen. A feasible and useful means of abatement, among other methods, is to establish and implement written procedures to manage changes to process technology, equipment and procedures that are approved by a qualified engineer according to manufacturers recommendations.