Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard:

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 hazard of potential fire and explosion because methods (i.e. explosion isolation or explosion suppression) were not designed on processing equipment and an air material separator (dust collectors) to minimize damage that would occur in the event of a dust deflagration, explosion or other fire hazard: a) Loading Dock Area: An air material separator (Donaldson Torit Dust Collector, Model DFO 3-6) used for conveying plastic resins and powder dust, produced from process equipment (blending machine), was located inside the building without the required isolation devices to prevent fires and deflagrations from propagating from the dust collector back through the inlet ductwork to the blending equipment, on or about 8/14/14, 10/1/14, 12/4/14, 12/12/14. b) Loading Dock Area: An air material separator (Donaldson Torit Dust Collector, Model DFO 3-6), used for conveying dust produced from process equipment (blending machine), was not bonded and grounded to prevent static electricity, on or about 8/14/14, 10/1/14, 12/4/14, 12/12/14. c) Loading Dock Area: The Exhaust air of an air material separator (Donaldson Torit Dust Collector, Model DFO 3-6), used for conveying dust produced from process equipment (blending machine), was not discharged outside of the building, on or about 8/14/14, 10/1/14, 12/4/14, 12/12/14. d) Blending Department: A total of eight processing equipment (blending machines) used to blend various powders and thermoplastic material was not bonded and grounded to prevent static electricity, on or about 8/14/14, 10/1/14, 12/4/14, 12/12/14. e) Blending Department: The employer had not completed a compatibility test for various materials entering the processing equipment (blending machines) used to blend various powders and thermoplastic material, on or about 8/14/14, 10/1/14, 12/4/14, 12/12/14. f) Blending Department: The employer did not develop written housekeeping procedures to minimize fugitive dust settling on workstations, floors and horizontal surfaces, on or about 8/14/14, 10/1/14, 12/4/14, 12/12/14.