A pharmaceutical manufacturing facility has been cited for 23 safety and health violations-including seven willful, one repeat and 15 serious. The company has been placed in OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program, and the citations carry proposed penalties of $449,680. OSHA initiated an inspection in December 2013 after the company failed to fix hazards following an April 2012 fire at the pharmaceutical manufacturing facility, which uses the chemical thionyl chloride. Five of the willful violations involve PSM. The violations involve failing to establish safe operating procedures, develop safety information for equipment, correct problems and perform tests and inspections in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendation and other recognized and accepted good practices. The other two willful violations involve failing to provide specific procedures to protect workers from dangerous machines during maintenance, to provide ventilation for emissions, and to remove and replace temporary wiring installed during the fire restoration project. The company was cited for one repeat violation for not properly fitting employees required to wear full and half-face, air-purifying respirators. Here is a breakdown of the citations:
SPECIAL NOTES regarding this inspection: 1) Notice all the reference to API standards and recommended practices even though this is a pharma facility and 2) there were quite a few items associated with the “utilities” on the covered process.