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

Vermont Statute, Title 21 Labor : Chapter 3. Safety : Occupational Safety and Health : 223. Duties: The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which was free from recognized hazards that would cause and/or would likely cause death or serious physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to potential fire & explosion hazards and at times prior thereto, at Barry Callebaut USA LLC in Saint Albans Vermont. Location: Barry Callebaut USA LLC, 400 Industrial Park Road, Saint Albans Vermont Violation: 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 dust explosion, deflagration, and other fire hazards in that pneumatic dust collectors and/or "baghouses" and/or product "dumping" workstations and/or storage silos and/or pneumatic conveyance ducting were not designed to minimize damage that would occur in the event of a dust explosion inside the machines as required by the following National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards. At times prior thereto, 1) the product agglomeration process engineered to convey individual process ingredients to be mixed together in the immediate vicinity of the Powdered Milk Room did not have not have explosion prevention systems, such as containment, suppression, inerting and/or explosion venting and; 2) the Powdered Sugar Silo and the pneumatic conveyance ducting system from the Powdered Sugar Silo to the Powdered Milk Room powdered sugar storage bin did not have explosion prevention systems, such as containment, suppression, inerting and/or explosion venting, on or about January 13, 2010. "AMONG OTHER METHODS, ONE FEASIBLE AND ACCEPTABLE ABATEMENT METHODS TO CORRECT THIS HAZARD" is to comply with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Chapter 61 "Prevention of Fires and Dust Explosion in Agriculture and Food Processing Facilities" (2008 edition) and NFPA 69 "Standard on Explosion Prevention Systems." and NFPA 68 "Standard on Explosion Protection by Deflagration Venting." and Section 7.3 and Sections 7.5 through 7.9 in NFPA 654, "Standard for the Prevention of Fire and Dust Explosions from the Manufacturing, Processing, and Handling of Combustible Particulate Solids" (2006 Edition) for pneumatic conveyance system installation that may include some of the following physical and programmatic changes: a) Relocating the baghouse dust collectors to outside the building; b) Equip the baghouse dust collectors with deflagration venting, vented to the outside; c) Install a deflagration system suppression system and deflagration pressure containment system for the Agglomerationand/or Dry Blending operations; d) Install spark detection devices inside pneumatic conveyor systems used in the Agglomeration and/or Dry Blending process(es); e) Implement a regular maintenance schedule for manually cleaning of fugitive combustible dusts outside the containment of the process and/or conveyance system(s) with appropriate static- dissipating equipment. VERIFICATION REQUIRED: 29 CFR 1903.19(c)(1) requires certification that the abatement of the above violation is completed.