Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 035 Hazard: HEAT

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 an explosion hazard: a) Test Shop - Code Tank Tester- Employee was exposed to an explosion hazard when sitting on the tank car performing pressure testing. The tanks and steam jackets were tested at water pressures up to 500 PSIG and 200 PSIG respectively and pressure relief valves were not attached to the train during testing, May 4,1994. b) Test Shop- Code Tank Tester- Employee was exposed to an explosion hazard when air testing the heating coils at 95 PSI and when water testing the coils at 100 and 200 PSI. Pressure relief valves were not present during the testing, May 4, 1994. Among others, one general method of control in these circumstances is to attach a pressure relief valve to the tank car and steam jacket during testing. The valves shall be capable of preventing the pressure from rising more than 10above the maximum allowable working pressure. An alternative measure may be to remove employees from the exposure area during testing.