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 burners at the worksite are not equipped with flame detection or supervision, and there are no processes or equipment used to ensure that the burners are automatically shut-off if temperatures inside the columns drop below 1400 degrees Fahrenheit, creating the potential for temperatures to drop below the auto-ignition level, for carbon monoxide or natural gas to accumulate and for an explosion to occur if the carbon monoxide or natural gas is ignited: (a) Facility, Zinc Refinery Building: In the distillation columns, the burners, which serve as heat sources by firing either carbon monoxide or natural gas, are operated without flame detection or supervision, and there are no processes or equipment used to ensure that the burners are automatically shut-off if temperatures inside the columns drop below 1400 degrees Fahrenheit. These conditions create the potential for carbon monoxide or natural gas to accumulate and for an explosion to occur if the carbon monoxide or natural gas is ignited. (b) Facility, Zinc Refinery Building: Burners installed on holding pots, where liquid metals are held before further processing occurs, are operated without flame detection or supervision, and there are no processes or equipment used to ensure that the burners are automatically shut-off if temperatures inside the columns drop below 1400 Fahrenheit. These conditions create the potential for carbon monoxide or natural gas to accumulate in the holding pots and for an explosion to occur if the carbon monoxide or natural gas is ignited. (c) Facility, Zinc Refinery Building: Burners installed on troughs, which convey liquid metal between columns and holding pots and related equipment, are operated without flame detection or supervision, creating the potential for flammable gas or fuel to accumulate and be ignited near its source, causing a fire and/or explosion. Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable means of abatement for the burners in the distillation columns is to implement a system by which the burners without flame supervision would be "interlocked to prevent their operation when the zone temperature is less than 1400 degrees Fahrenheit (760 degrees Celsius) bypass interlock" (NFPA 86, "Standard for Ovens and Furnaces," Section 8.10.1(3)), including compliance with all of the specific criteria set forth in NFPA 86 with regard to the use of burner interlocks in situations where no method of flame detection or supervision is used. Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable means of abatement for the burners on the holding pots and the burners on the troughs is to comply with the flame detection and flame supervision requirements of NFPA 86.