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

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 wood dust explosion, deflagration, or other fire hazards: a.On or about December 16, 2008, a baghouse located outside of the sorting line building and two baghouses located outside of the retail/production building were not equipped with deflagration relief venting or equivalent. ABATEMENT NOTE: Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct these hazards include following NFPA 664, Standard for the Prevention of Fires and Explosions in Wood Processing and Woodworking Facilities (2007 Edition), including, but not limited to: equipping the dust collectors with adequate deflagration relief vents or equivalent protection. b.On or about December 11, 2008, inside the retail/production building, the enclosureless dust collector was not located at least 20 feet from any means of egress or area routinely occupied by personnel such as employees working in the millwork area. ABATEMENT NOTE: Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct these hazards include following NFPA 664, Standard for the Prevention of Fires and Explosions in Wood Processing and Woodworking Facilities (2007 Edition), including, but not limited to: relocating the dust collector outside or at least 20 feet from any means of egress or area routinely occupied by personnel. c.On or before December 16, 2008, surfaces were not cleaned in a manner that minimized the generation of wood dust clouds due to the employer using compressed air (30 psi) for the removal of wood dust and not taking the necessary precautions in locations such as the mill 1 chipping room, mill 1, mill 2, grinding room attached to the sorting line building, and the trim saw in the sorting line building. ABATEMENT NOTE: Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct these hazards include following NFPA 664, Standard for the Prevention of Fires and Explosions in Wood Processing and Woodworking Facilities (2007 Edition), including, but not limited to: discontinuing the use of compressed air or reducing the compressed air to 15 psi and taking additional precautions such as vacuuming prior to blowdown, removing ignition sources, and ensuring that all fire equipment is in service. d.On or about December 18, 2008, in the grinding room attached to the sorting line building, foreign material was not removed from the process material feed into the Cresswood WoodGrinders Series HF-50 (model: HF 5060 AST; S/N: 1050503) by a permanent magnet or equivalent. ABATEMENT NOTE: Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct these hazards include following NFPA 664, Standard for the Prevention of Fires and Explosions in Wood Processing and Woodworking Facilities (2007 Edition), including, but not limited to: installing a permanent magnet or self-cleaning electromagnet-type magnetic separator. e.On or about December 11 and 16, 2008, in the grinding room attached to the sorting line building, the trim saw area in the sorting line building, and the mill 1 chipping room, interior surfaces, structural supports and ledges not readily accessible for cleaning were not designed to minimize dust accumulation. ABATEMENT NOTE: Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct these hazards include following NFPA 664, Standard for the Prevention of Fires and Explosions in Wood Processing and Woodworking Facilities (2007 Edition), including, but not limited to: redesigning interior surfaces and ledges by boxing them in and ensuring that there is a steep angleof repose at the top to prevent dust accumulation. f.On or about December 18, 2008, in the sorting line building and retail/production building, recycled exhaust air from each dust collector did not have a high-speed abort gate activated by a spark detector. ABATEMENT NOTE: Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct these hazards include following NFPA 664, Standard for the Prevention of Fires and Explosions in Wood Processing and Woodworking Facilities (2007 Edition), including, but not limited to: installing a high-speed abort gate with a manual reset activated by a spark detector.