Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 012 Hazard: STRUCK BY

North Carolina General Statute 95-129(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of North Carolina: The employer did not furnish each of his employees conditions of employment and a place of employment free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to: Struck By/Thermal Burns due to the employers failure to properly purge natural gas pipes prior to operating gas-powered equipment. a)Boiler room ! on or about 6/4/09 the employer restored service of the 6 gas line from the meter to the boiler and did not ensure a complete purge to remove the flammable mixture of air and natural gas inside the pipe prior to firing the boiler. Reference: [NFPA 54 Chapter 7.3.2 (2002 version): Placing in operation. When piping full of air is placed in operation the line shall be first displaced with an inert gas and then displaced with fuel gas as required by table.{ Such as more than 10 feet of 6 inch pipe and more than 30 feet of 3 inch pipe.} ] Abatement note: On means of abatement would be to add an inert gas to prevent the mixing of air and gas when gas is reintroduced into the line and to purge out the inert gas to ensure a pure content of gas ready to safely serve burner equipment. This could have been accomplished by using nitrogen and testing equipment to ensure that the introduction and removal of pipe contents was complete between each step. The employer already had purge points on each line for the introduction of the inert gas.