Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001A 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: The alleged violations below have been grouped because they involve similar or related hazards that may increase the potential for illness. The employer is not limited to abatement methods suggested by OSHA, i.e., methods explained are general and may not be effective in all cases. Other methods of abatement may be equally or more appropriate. Ultimate responsibility for determining the most appropriate abate- ment method rests with the employer, given its superior knowledge of the specific conditions on its worksite. The violation(s) described in this citation are alleged to have occurred on or about the day(s) the inspection was made unless other- wise indicated within the description given below each violation. a. Painters applying clearcoat in the spray bake booths at this facility were exposed to excessive levels of 1, 6- Hexamethylene diisocyanate homopolymer. Eight short term exposure samples taken indicated exposure levels ranging from 1.47 mg/m3 to 9.80 mg/m3 during separate intervals of 15 minutes or less. Among other methods, some feasible and acceptable abatement methods to correct this hazard are: 1. Upgrade engineering controls to provide a more even distribution of airflow throughout the booth. 2. Product substitutes which do not contain isocyanates. Abatement Schedule Step 1 - Effective respiratory protection shall be provided to and used by exposed employees as an interium protective measure until feasible engineering and/or administrative controls can be implemented or whenever such controls fail to reduce employee exposure to within permissible exposure limits. Step 2 - A written detailed plan of abatement shall be submitted to the Area Director outlining a schedule for the implementation of engineering and/or administrative measures to control employee exposures to hazardous substances as referenced in this cita- tion. This plan shall include, at a minimum, target dates for the following actions which must be consistent with the dates required by this citation: (1) Evaluation of engineering/administrative control options; (2) Selection of optimum control method and completion of design; (3) Procurement, installation and operation of selected control measures; (4) Testing and acceptance or modification/redesign of controls; Step 3 - Completed implementation of feasible engineering and/or 0 administrative controls.