On July 25, 2012, OSHA issued to Respondent a three item serious citation and a one item willful citation and notification of penalty (citation). The serious citation items allege that, on or about February 6, 2012:
- Respondent did not maintain a standard railing adjacent to batch plant sand bins that are permit-required confined spaces, in violation of standard 1910.23(c)(3);
- Respondent did not secure batch plant sand bins #1 and #2 from employee entry, in violation of standard 1910.146(d)(1); and
- Respondent did not prepare entry permits for permit-required confined spaces in the batch plant, known as sand bins #1 and #2, in violation of standard 1910.146(e)(1).
The willful / serious citation item alleges that, on that date, Respondent did not implement procedures for immediately summoning emergency services upon discovery of an employee engulfed in sand within a permit-required confined space and Respondent did not implement procedures for preventing unauthorized co-workers from entering a permit-required confined space and attempting a rescue of an employee engulfed in sand, in violation of standard 1910.146(d)(9). The total penalty proposed is $70,000.00.
