Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 004B Hazard:

29 CFR 1910.120(q)(2)(vi): Elements of an emergency response plan. The employer shall develop an emergency response plan for emergencies which shall address, as a minimum, the following areas to the extent that they are not addressed in any specific program required in this paragraph: Evacuation routes and procedures. a) The employer's emergency evacuation procedure contained in the employer's Emergency Action Plan did not provide adequate guidance on determining potential dangerous locations for employees and procedures to be followed to protect employees during ammonia releases. On February 21, 2017, the employees were not evacuated in an orderly fashion. Employees detected ammonia in several locations of the facility around 1 am. Some Departments moved their personnel to the Break Area and/or outside near the Break Area after ammonia was detected in their work areas. Other Departments continued working. Around 1:55 am, it was determined to shelter employees in the Dry Warehouse. Approximately 1 hour was spent evaluating the ammonia leak and where to evacuate employees to when the employer's planning was to evacuate employees from potential hazardous locations and not to assist in the handling of the emergency as allowed by 29 CFR 1910.120(q)(1). b) On or about February 21, 2017, employees working in the Scanima Room were not notified of the evacuation. c) Employees were not accounted for approximately 1.5 hours after the first departments started evacuating their employees from their work areas around 1 am.