OSHA has cited a power company and a contractor after five workers were killed, (1 plant operator and four contractors) and one other suffered serious burns. In June 2017, OSHA determined that the workers were burned when a blockage inside a coal-fired furnace broke free and spewed molten slag into the work area. Employees of the power plant and two (2) contractor companies died in the incident. OSHA cited the power plant for failing to follow energy control procedures while performing maintenance on equipment. One contractor was cited for failing to develop procedures to control hazardous energy. Both were also cited for failing to provide appropriate personal protective equipment to safeguard employees from burns. Proposed penalties for both companies totaled $160,972. The other contractor has not issued any citations. Here are the citations:
Power Plant Citations
The alleged violations below have been grouped because they involve similar or related hazards that may increase the potential for injury or illness.
Citation 1 Item 1a
Type of Violation: Serious; $12,675
29 CFR 1910.132(a): Protective equipment was not used when necessary whenever hazards capable of causing injury and impairment were encountered:
a) For the work conducted around and on slag tanks, on or about June 29, 2017, appropriate personal protective equipment, such as but not limited to protective equipment for the head, feet, arms, and body, was not used to protect employees’ skin from thermal bums.
Citation 1 Item 1b
Type of Violation: Serious; Grouped
29 CFR 1910.133(a)(1): The employer did not ensure that each affected employee uses appropriate eye or face protection when exposed to eye or face hazards from flying particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors, ·or potentially injurious light radiation:
a) For the work conducted around and on slag tanks, on or about June 29, 2017, appropriate face protection was not selected to protect employees from thermal bums. Employees were exposed to high-temperature slag while working at the bottom of a slag tank.
Citation 1 Item 1c
Type of Violation: Serious; Grouped
29 CFR 1910.138(a): The employer did not select and require employee(s) to use appropriate hand protection when employees’ hands were exposed to hazards such as those from skin absorption of harmful substances; severe cuts or lacerations; severe abrasion; punctures; chemical bums; thermal bums; and harmful temperature extremes:
a) For the work conducted around and on slag tanks on or about June 29, 2017, appropriate hand protection was not selected to protect employees from thermal bums. Employees were exposed to high-temperature slag while working at the bottom of a slag tank.
The alleged violations below have been grouped because they involve similar or related hazards that may increase the potential for injury or illness.
Citation 2 Item 1a
Type of Violation: Willful; $126,749
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 burn and/or struck by hazards associated with molten slag being released from the slag tank:
a) At the slag tank 2A, on or about June 29, 2017, employees at/near the bottom of slag tank 2A working to clear slag tank clogging during regular operations were exposed to steam and molten slag being released from the slag tank.
The neck/tap hole of the slag tank had been clogged and/or partially obstructed for 13 hours. Per the employer’s Slag Tank Water Blasting Procedure the unit should have been taken off (shut down) after the last slag tap closed and was unable to be reopened within 6 to 8 hours.
Employer safe work procedures did not address a simultaneous blockage at the neck/tap hole and the dog house gate at the bottom of the tank. A simultaneous blockage occurred on or about June 29, 2017.
During that time, the operational load in megawatts was run at full load/power and not reduced as per the employer’s Slag Tank Water Blasting Procedure.
Among other feasible means, one feasible means of abatement is to shut down the furnace/boiler when unpreventable slag tank clogging occurs, and employees have to work in the area at the bottom of the slag tank.
Citation 2 Item 1b
Type of Violation: Willful; Grouped
29 CFR 1910.269(d)(2)(iii): Procedures were not developed, documented, and used for the control of potentially hazardous energy covered by paragraph (d) of this section:
a) The employer did not develop, document, and implement specific LOTO procedures for shutting down the furnace and clearing clogs in the slag tanks, on or about June 29, 2017.
Contractor Citations
The alleged violations below have been grouped because they involve similar or related hazards that may increase the potential for injury or illness.
Citation 1 Item 1a
Type of Violation: Serious; $8,873
29 CFR 191O.132(a): Protective equipment was not used when necessary whenever hazards capable of causing injury and impairment were encountered:
a) For the work conducted around and on slag tanks, on or about June 29, 2017, appropriate personal protective equipment, such as but not limited to protective equipment for the head, feet, arms, and body, was not used to protect employees’ skin from thermal burns.
Citation 1 Item 1b
Type of Violation: Serious; Grouped
29 CFR 1910.133(a)(1): The employer did not ensure that each affected employee uses appropriate eye or face protection when exposed to eye or face hazards from flying particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors, or potentially injurious light radiation:
a) For the work conducted around and on slag tanks, on or about June 29, 2017, appropriate face protection was not selected to protect employees from thermal bums. Employees were exposed to high-temperature slag while working at the bottom of a slag tank.
Citation 1 Item 1c
Type of Violation: Serious; Grouped
29 CFR 1910.138(a): The employer did not select and require employee(s) to use appropriate hand protection when employees’ hands were exposed to hazards such as those from skin absorption of harmful substances; severe cuts or lacerations; severe abrasion; punctures; chemical bums; thermal burns; and harmful temperature extremes:
a) For the work conducted around and on slag tanks, on or about June 29, 2017, appropriate hand protection was not selected to protect employees from thermal bums. Employees were exposed to high-temperature slag while working at the bottom of a slag tank.
Citation 1 Item 2
Type of Violation: Serious; $12,675
29 CFR 1910.269(d)(2)(iii): Procedures were not developed, documented, and used for the control of potentially hazardous energy covered by paragraph ( d) of this section:
a) The employer did not develop, document, and implement procedures for clearing clogs in a slag tank, on or about June 29, 2017.
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CLICK HERE for the contractor’s Citations