Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 008B Hazard: FALLING

Section 6(a) of the Puerto Rico Occupational Safety and Health Act: 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 physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to: Seccion 6(a) de la Ley de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo de Puerto Rico: El patrono no proveyo empleo y un sitio de empleo libre de riesgos reconocidos que esten causando o que puedan causar muerte o dano fisico a los empleados, por cuanto empleados estaban expuestos a: API - 570 - NOV 2009 is a recognized Industry standard of recommended practices that covers inspection, rating, repair, and alteration procedures for metallic and fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) piping systems and their associated pressure relieving devices that have been placed in-service. a)At Caribbean Petroleum Refining in Bayamon employees that worked performing routine tasks such as tank operator, waste treatment operator, loading rack operator, among others were exposed or could be exposed to flammable and combustible spills or release, fire and or explosion during the performance of there duties. In the Tank Farm Area there was approximately 45 above ground steel tanks ranging in capacity from 500 to 500,000 barrels which were used for the storage and distribution of gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, and jet fuel. Products were transfered to and from the tanks via above and under ground pipelines. The employer did not have an inspection system for the entire system of pipes in service, to determine the intregrity of product transfer piping at the facility. The employer provided some documentation of daily and monthly inspection for visible leak to the Pipes racks. This inspection was to comply with SPCC but did not comply with the API 570 - 5.5.4 External Visual Inspection. In 2007, the employer inspected aboveground pipeline from dock to plant but did not inspect the the entire pipeline system inside the facility. Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct this hazard is: 1.Follow API 570 - 5.6.2 Condition Monitoring location (CML) Monitoring. Each piping system shall be monitored at CMLs. Piping circuits with high potential consequences of failure should occur and those subject to higher corrosion rates or localized corrosion will normally have more CMLs and be monitored more frequently. API - 570 - NOV 2009 es un reglamento de practicas reconocidas por la industria que abarca procedimientos de inspeccion, clasificacion, reparacion y alteracion para sistemas de tuberias metalicas y de plastico reforzado con fibra de vidrio y sus dispositivos de liberacion de presion conectados que hayan sido puesto en servicio. a)En Caribbean Petroleum Refining en Bayamon empleados que trabajaban realizando tareas tales como operador de tanque operador de tratamiento de aguas, operador de carga entre otras fueron expuestos o podrian estado expuestos a derrame, liberacion de productos quimicos inflamables, combustible,fuego y/o explosion durante el desempeno de sus deberes. En la granja de tanques habian alrededor de 45 tanques de acero sobre el terreno, con capacidades que fluctuaban entre 500 a 500,000 barriles los cuales se utilizaban para almacenamiento y distribucion de gasolina, diesel, aceite combustible y combustible para aviones. Los productos fueron transferidos desde y hacia los tanques, a traves de tuberias que estaban por encima y por debajo del terreno. El patrono no tenia un sistema de inspeccion para el sistema completo de tuberias en servicio para determinar la integridad de transferencia de producto en la facilidad. El patrono proveyo documentacion escrita de algunas inspecciones diarias y mensuales para fugas visibles en las hileras de tuberias. Esta inspeccion era para cumplir con SPCC pero no cumplia con el API 570 - 5.5.4 Inspeccion Visual Externa. El 2007, el patrono examino la tuberia sobre el terreno desde el puerto hasta la planta pero no examino el sistema completo de tuberias dentro de la facilidad. Un metodo seguro entre otros metodos aceptables para corregir este riesgos es: 1.Seguir el API 570 - 5.6.2 Monitoreo de localizacion de auscultacion de condicion (CML). Todo sistema de tuberias debe ser monitoreado en los CML. Circuitos de tuberias con repercusiones de alto potencial de ocurrir un fallo y aquellas sujetas a indices de corrosion altas o corrosion localizada normalmente tendran mas CML y seran monitoreadas mas frecuentemente.