Text For Citation: 03 Item/Group: 002 Hazard: CHEMICAL

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 on 11/10/87 employees in the Operations Area emptying and cleaning compressed gas cylinders were exposed to the hazard of an unexpected release of toxic gases such as arsine, which could result in death or serious damage to the blood, liver, kidneys, and cardiopulmonary system. The chemical treatment of toxic gases such as arsine was not followed as specified in the employer's application for Part A of its license to operate the facility resulting in the potential release of untreated gas despite the presence of another oxidizer, namely a hypochlorite solution, in the scrubbing system. The use of hypochlorite potentially created an additional hazard. Furthermore, the use of hypochlorite in the scrubbing system would not overt a release of untreated gas from a leak between the cylinder and the scrubbing system. One feasible and acceptable abatement method, among others to correct this hazard is: 1) To develop and implement written standard operating procedures which are proven effective for the particular treatment and control of all hazardous gases treatment and disposed of in the facility. Treatment shall be accomplished as close to the cylinder being emptied as possible. No modifications of the established procedures shall be permitted until proposed methods have been researched, tested, and found to be effective and safe by a qualifed individual. 2) To ensure that all necessary process equipment, monitoring instrumentation, and engineering and other controls specified in the procedures are in place, operating properly, and used as directed. 3) To train all employees involved with these operations on the standard operating procedures and enforce all policies. 4) To maintain accurate logs of all waste treatment and disposal operations including records of unusual conditions, releases, and near misses and the corrective actions taken. 5) To periodically review and evaluate standard operating procedures. Violation(s) observed on or about 11/13/88.