I am going to guess that the facility’s inventory was less than 10,000 pounds of Propylene as OSHA issued no PSM citations, only a HAZCOM training citation and a GDC citation for four (4) issues they found with how the flammable gas was managed. Another incident showing OSHA’s weakness with “flammable gases”; they NEED a flammable gas standard similar to their LPG standard (1910.110 – Storage and handling of liquefied petroleum gases). This need will ONLY increase as we see an influx of “flammable refrigerants” in industrial settings.
Around 4:20 a.m. on January 24, 2020, Employee #1 had arrived at the worksite to begin work in the coating shop and sent a text message stating that he could smell and hear a propylene gas leak. The supervisor sent out a text to the crew stating “don’t fire up the gun. Gas leak.” A coworker responded “Call 911.” Shortly after, an explosion occurred at or in the coating shop. Employee #1 and Employee #2 were killed in the explosion and fire. Propylene gas, used at the facility in the high-velocity oxygen fuel coating process, was believed to have leaked, accumulating and finding an unknown source of ignition, resulting in the explosion. Two other employees, Employee #3 and Employee #4, were non-fatally injured by debris from the explosion.
Text For Citation: 02 Item/Group: 001 Hazard:
OSH ACT of 1970 Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: 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 a fire and explosion hazard:
On or about January 24, 2020 and times prior thereto, in and around the coating building,
a) The employer did not ensure that flammable concentrations of propylene did not accumulate inside the building.
b) The employer did not ensure that equipment, such as but not limited to, branch piping upstream of the regulator, inside the booth, utilizing flammable gas, was maintained gas-tight at all the times.
c) The employer did not ensure that the propylene shutoff valve at the bulk tank was closed at the end of each production day.
d) The employer did not maintain the propylene distribution line in a safe operating condition.
|
Violation Summary
|
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serious | Willful | Repeat | Other | Total | |
| Initial Violations | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Current Violations | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Initial Penalty | $8,675 | $134,937 | $0 | $0 | $143,612 |
| Current Penalty | $8,675 | $134,937 | $0 | $0 | $143,612 |
| Violation Items | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | ID | Type | Standard | Issuance | Abate | Curr$ | Init$ | Fta$ | Contest | LastEvent |
| 1. | 01001 | Serious |
19101200 H01 – Employers shall provide employees with effective information and training on hazardous chemicals in their work area at the time of their initial assignment, and whenever a new chemical hazard the employees have not previously been trained about is introduced into their work area. Information and training may be designed to cover categories of hazards (e.g., flammability, carcinogenicity) or specific chemicals. Chemical-specific information must always be available through labels and safety data sheets. |
07/21/2020 | 08/14/2020 | $8,675 | $8,675 | $0 | 08/07/2020 | – |
| 2. | 02001 | Willful | 5A0001 – | 07/21/2020 | 09/04/2020 | $134,937 | $134,937 | $0 | 08/07/2020 | – |