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

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 severe burn injuries from the potential dust explosion hazard that could have resulted from or could have been exacerbated by, the use of multiple indoor enclosureless dust collectors in the same room that were not separated from each other by at least 6.1 meters (20 feet), the use of nonconductive PVC duct on enclosureless systems, the use of an indoor enclosureless dust collector to collect the dust from a sander; and did not locate the air moving device on the clean air side of the dust collect where the moisture content was not in excess of 25 percent and the system did not have a listed spark detection extinguishing system and abort gate, or either a deflagration relief venting or deflagration suppression system: (a)Main Shop Block Building - The employer used an enclosureless dust collector to collect the dust from the sander, on or about March 28, 2007. (b)Main Shop Block Building - The employer did not ensure that the enclosureless dust collector for the sander was at least 6.1 meters (20 feet) away from the enclosureless dust collector for the double spindle shaper, on or about March 28, 2007. (c)Main Shop Block Building - The employer did not ensure that the fan was located on the clean air side of the "dust collector" to minimize the potential for ignition of the particles due to factors including but not limited to frictional heat from the fan motor, impact of the impeller and bearing or fan impeller failure, on or about March 28, 2007. (d)Small Red Block Building - The employer used nonconductive ducts such as PVC pipes on enclosureless ventilation systems including but not limited to the Kraemer Model KTM 2-6 two (2) horsepower system serial number 23401 on the table saw on or about March 28, 2007. AMONG OTHER METHODS, ONE FEASIBLE AND ACCEPTABLE ABATEMENT METHOD TO CORRECT THESE HAZARDS INCLUDES FOLLOWING NFPA 664 STANDARD FOR THE PREVENTION OF FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS IN WOOD PROCESSING AND WOODWORKING FACILITIES, 2007 EDITION, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: ENSURE ENCLOSURELESS DUST COLLECTORS ARE NOT USED ON SANDERS OR PLANERS HAVING MECHANICAL MATERIAL FEEDS; ENSURE THAT ALL DUCTWORK IS METALLIC AND THAT NON CONDUCTIVE DUCTS SUCH AS PVC PIPES ARE NOT USED; ENSURE WHERE MULTIPLE COLLECTORS ARE LOCATED IN THE SAME ROOM THEY ARE SEPARATED FROM EACH OTHER BY AT LEAST 6.1 METERS (20 FEET); AND ENSURE THAT AND BLOWERS ARE LOCATED IN ONE OF THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS: 1) ON THE CLEAN AIR SIDE OF THE DUST COLLECTORS, REGARDLESS OF THE MOISTURE CONTENT OR PARTICLE SIZE OF THE MATERIAL BEING CONVEYED, 2) UPSTREAM OF THE DUST COLLECTOR WHEN THE MATERIAL BEING CONVEYED HAS A MOISTURE CONTENT INEXCESS OF 25 PERCENT (WET BASIS), 3) UPSTREAM OF THE DUST COLLECTOR WHEN THE MATERIAL BEING CONVEYED HAS A MOISTURE CONTENT OF LESS THAN 25 PERCENT (WET BASIS) AND A CONCENTRATION OF SUB 420 MICRON PARTICULATE, LESS THAN 75 PER CENT OF THE MINIMUM EXPLOSIBLE CONCENTRATION (MEC), AND THE DUCT DOWNSTREAM OF THE FAN IS EQUIPPED WITH A LISTED SPARK DETECTION EXTINGUISHING SYSTEM AND AN ABORT GATE TO DIVERT MATERIAL TO A SAFE LOCATION; 4) UPSTREAM OF THE DUST COLLECTOR WHEN THE MATERIAL BEING CONVEYED HAS A MOISTURE CONTENT OF LESS THAN 25 PERCENT (WET BASIS) AND A CONCENTRATION OF SUB-420 MICRON PARTICULATE, IN EXCESS OF 75 PERCENT OF THE MEC, AND THE DUCT AND DUST COLLECTOR ARE EQUIPPED WITH EITHER DEFLAGRATION RELIEF VENTING OR DEFLAGRATION SUPPRESSION SYSTEMS; 5) UPSTREAM OF AN ENCLOSURELESS DUST COLLECTOR REGARDLESS OF THE MOISTURE CONTENT OR THE PARTICULATE SIZE OF THE MATERIAL BEING CONVEYED. VERIFICATION REQUIRED