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

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 thermal burns from contact with unprotected hot pipes, on or about November 18, 2009: a) Mixing area - The two low melt pipes running close to the wall had never been insulated, exposing hot surfaces at 165 F. b) Mixing area - The hot oil pipes and fittings running close to the floor between tanks 7 and 8 were partially insulated, exposing hot surfaces at 175-185 F. Among other methods, feasible and acceptable abatement methods to correct this hazard include insulating the hot pipes with insulating material and/or isolating the hot pipes by providing a barrier or guard to prevent employee contact, as described in OSHA Interpretation 08/19/1998 - "Workers must be protected from hazards of heated (hot) surfaces", Interpretation ID=22617, which includes references to: 1) National consensus standard, "Standard Guide for Heated Sysytem Conditions that Produce Contact Burn Injuries (C 1055-92)", issued by the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM), and 2) "Preventing Burns from Insulated Pipes", Chemical Engineering, Vol. 88, No 15 (July 27, 1981), pp 58-61. In accordance with 29 CFR 1903.19(c), abatement certification is required for this violation (using the CERTIFICATION OF CORRECTIVE ACTION WORKSHEET).