Text For Citation: 04 Item/Group: 001 Hazard: EXPLOSION

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 the risk of explosion of accumulations of primers in a 30 caliber de-primer machine: a.An employee used a 30 caliber deprime machine to remove primers from 30 caliber ammunition. The operating procedures formulated by the employer could allow an accumulation of primers in the primer chute and on the floor that was sufficient to cause bodily injury in the event of an explosion on or about 12/17/01. An employee was seriously injured on 12/14/01 when this machine exploded. ABATEMENT NOTE: Feasible forms of abatement include, but are not limited to, the following: 1. Install a system to electronically detect when primers fail to progress all the way to the storage silo and stop the machine until the condition is corrected.. 2. Install a monitoring system that will allow the operator to see the chute and the area behind and under the deprime machine at all times. 3. Institute a monitoring program that will not allow more than an acceptable number of primers to accumulate in the chute or on the floor behind or under the machine.te