Text For Citation: 02 Item/Group: 001A Hazard:

OSH ACT of 1970 Section (5)(a)(1): The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which was free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to dust explosions and fire hazards due to deficient design and/or implementation of preventive and/or protective measures in its seed processing system and related equipment, such as the following: a) Seedway, LLC, Front Mill, on or about 12/18/18: Equipment such as an in-floor paddle conveyor, a bucket elevator, and gravity fed distribution legs, are used to convey and fill inside open storage bins with seeds, such as, oats and soybeans. During the filling process, dust is allowed to escape into the surrounding area due to the lack of a dust collection system. The dust was sampled, tested and determined to be explosive. Controls are not in place to prevent ignition sources such as but not limited to static electricity and spark from unapproved electrical equipment. Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct these hazards are to comply with relevant provisions in NFPA 61 (2017) Prevention of Fires and Dust Explosions in Agricultural and Food Processing Facilities such as: 1) Chapter 4, Section 4.1.2 of NFPA 61, which requires the employer to identify, assess the consequences and manage credible fire, flash fire and explosion hazards associated with their facility; 2) Chapter 7, Section 7.1.1 NFPA 61, requires the employer to conduct a Dust Hazard Analysis; 3) Chapter 8, Section 8.5 NFPA 61, requires electrical wiring and equipment to comply with NFPA 70; 4) Chapter 8, Section 8.7 of NFPA 61, requires a method be used to prevent the escape of dust from process equipment into the surrounding environment.