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

OSH ACT of 1970 Section (5)(a)(1): 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 respiratory hazards during tank gauging operations: (a)PDC Energy Inc. at Weld County Roads 40 and 13, W 0.5 mile, S 0.1 mile, Gaddis Horizontal Pad, Johnstown, CO: On and before July 13th, 2014, PDC Energy Inc. 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 respiratory hazards during tank gauging operations. Employees performed gauging of crude oil at the oil well tank battery. Employees performed these tasks at open thief hatches and adjacent to opened blow down vents. Flammable hydrocarbon gases were vented through open thief hatches and blow down vents. The employer did not develop and utilize procedures for gauging that did not expose employees to an oxygen deficient atmosphere and hydrocarbon gases and vapors. This condition exposed employees to respiratory hazards. Abatement Note: Among other methods, feasible abatement methods include: (1) Installation and use of ground level tank gauges to eliminate need for employees to climb onto tanks to perform tank gauging. Refer to American Petroleum Institute Manual of Petroleum Measurement Standards Chapter 3.1B "Standard Practice for Level Measurement of Liquid Hydrocarbons in Stationary Tanks by Automatic Tank Gauging".