Inspection Detail

Inspection: 2862555 - Reliable Contracting Co Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Department Of Labor, Licensing, And Regulation Division Of Labor And Industry Maryland Occupational Safety And Health

Investigation Summary

Two employees of an asphalt manufacturing plant were required to make repairs on the screen deck area of the plant. An employee pulled the circuit breaker for the screen deck area and locked the control panel housing the circuit breaker. A second employee then started the plant to gain access to the screen deck area. Operation of the control panel was turned over to a contractor employee who was to perform the preventive maintenance operations on the control system. The contractor employee activated the system. The control system had not been properly deenergized and the control panel began to display erratic readings. The asphalt production system interpreted the erratic readings as an indication to produce more asphalt, exceeding manufacturing capacity. Molten asphalt began to flow from the storage container into the weigh bucket. The normal operational capacity was 500 lbs and the maximum capacity was 1100 lbs. The molten asphalt exceeded the maximum capacity and began to overflow. At that time, Employee #1 was walking by the area and was splattered by the overflowing asphalt. He suffered minor burns on his head and face and was hospitalized.

Keywords: HEAD, MAINTENANCE, REPAIR, LOCKOUT, CONTROL MALFUNCTION, TAG, BURIED, FACE, ASPHALT