Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 002 Hazard: STRUCK BY

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: The employer does not furnish employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees, in that, by failing to assure that repairs and alterations to the 59/80R-63 tire curing units (401, 402, 403 and 404) are made consistent with the industry codes and design specifications, employees are exposed to hazards such as, but not limited to, explosions, struck-by and steam hazards: a) Titan Tire Corporation of Bryan, Bryan, Ohio: The employer fails to assure that welds on steel components are of sufficient strength and quality to assure safe operation of the unit, and b) Titan Tire Corporation of Bryan, Bryan, Ohio: The employer fails to assure that connections such as, but not limited to, welds, bolts, shear pins, and gussets utilized to provide required clamping forces are properly engineered and fabricated to assure safe operation of the units. Among other methods, some feasible means of abatement would be to follow American Welding Society AWS D1.1 Structural Welding Code - Steel sections: Section 2 Design of Welded Connections 2.6.7 Welds with Rivets or Bolts: Connections that are welded to one member and bolted or riveted to the other shall be allowed. However, rivets and bolts used in bearing connections shall not be considered as sharing the load in combination with welds in a common faying surface. Welds in such connections shall be adequate to carry the entire load in the connection. Section 5 Fabrication 5.5 Welding Procedure Specification Variables. The welding variables shall be in conformance with a written WPS (see Annex E, Form E1, as an example). Each pass will have complete fusion with the adjacent base metal, and such that here will be no depressions or undue undercutting at the toe of the weld. Excessive concavity of initial passes shall be avoided to prevent cracking in the roof of joints under restraint. All welders, welding operators, and tack welders shall be informed in the proper use of the WPS, and the applicalbe WPS shall be followed during the performance of the welding. Section 5 Fabrication: 5.13 Conformance with Design: The sizes and lengths of welds shall be no less than those specified by design requirements and detail drawings, except as allowed in Table 6.1. The location of welds shall not be changed without approval of the Engineer. Section 5 Fabrication 5.26.3 Engineer's Approval. Prior approval of the engineer shall be obtained for repairs to base metal (other than those required by 5.15), repair of major or delayed cracks, repairs to ESW and EGW with internal defects, or for a revised design to compensate for deficiencies. The Engineer shall be notified before welded members are cut apart. Section 6 Inspection: 6.5.1 Size, Length, and Location of Welds: The Inspector shall make certain that the size, length, and location of all welds conform to the requirements of this code and to the detail drawings and that no unspecified welds have been added without the approval of the Engineer. Section 8 Strengthening and Repairing Existing Structures, subsection 8.3, Design for Strengthening and Repair, Para. 8.3.1 Design Process. The design process shall consider applicable governing code provisions and other parts of the general specifications. The Engineer shall specify the type and extent of survey necessary to identify existing conditions that require strengthening or repair in order to satisfy applicable criteria. American Institute of Steel Construction AISC, Manual of Steel Construction, Volume II Connections; Welds with Bolts and Rivets in Bearing-Type Connections: Since the rigidity of welds prevents the joint slippage necessary for fasteners in bearing-type connections to come into action, the combination of welds with A307 bolts, high-strength bolts or rivets in bearing-type connections is permissible only if the welds are designed to take the entire joint load. In accordance with 29 CFR 1903.19(d), abatement certification is required for this violation (using the CERTIFICATION OF CORRECTIVE ACTION WORKSHEET), and in addition, documentation demonstrating that abatement is complete must be included with your certification. This documentation may include, but is not limited to, evidence of the purchase or repair of the equipment, photographic or video evidence of abatement, or other written records. In addition, the employer must submit an abatement plan within 15 days describing the actions it is taking to properly evaluate, repair, or modify the welds and the clamping connections associated with tire curing units 401, 402, 403 and 404, it's schedule for completing these actions and what it is doing to protect employees until units are properly repaired. Every 30 days thereafter, the employe shall submit a progress report stating how many tire curing units have had their welds and their clamping connections evaluated, repaired, or modified to ensure proper fabrications in accordance with engineering requirements, whether it is meeting the schedule set forth in its abatement plan, and if not, why not; and the welds and the clamping connections evaluated, repaired, or modified to assure proper fabrication in accorance with engineering requirements. After completion the employer will submit a final report to verify that the welds and the clamping connections have been properly designed and fabricated in accordance with accepted code or standards.