This week OSHA issued a willful violation for Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) deficiencies involving a spray dryer absorber (SDA) at a power generation plant. What is shocking is the fact that a 46-year-old worker lost four (4) fingers on his right hand in the December 2015 accident. During the course of its investigation into the December 2015 accident, OSHA found that multi-finger amputations also occurred on this SAME SDA in August 2011 and October 2012. Folks, this happened not at a “mom and pop shop” but rather at a power company with generating capacity of 26 GW, capable of supplying more than 21 million households, operates 35 Power Plants across eight states, has 830,000 retail customers, residential customers and 23,000 commercial, industrial and municipal customers, and Annual Revenues of over $5 billion! (Source) And here we sit in 2016, unable to comply with one of the most fundamental OSHA standards that are now over 25 years old, and three (3) workers have suffered debilitating – life-changing injuries.
Here is a look at the citations:
Citation 1 Item 1
Type of Violation: Serious; $6,000
29 CFR 1910.132(d)(1): The employer did not assess the workplace to determine if hazards were present, or were likely to be present, which necessitated the use of personal protective equipment:
The employer failed to determine if hazards were present which necessitate the use of PPE while clearing plug ups on the SDA.
Citation 1 Item 2
Type of Violation: Serious; $6,000
29 CFR 1910.138(a): The employer did not select and require employees to use appropriate hand protection when employees hands were exposed to hazardous condition(s):
The employer failed to select hand protection for employees who were exposed to lime.
Citation 1 Item 3
Type of Violation: Serious; $5,000
29 CFR 1910.145(c)(2)(i): Caution signs were not used to warn against potential hazards or to caution against unsafe practices:
Employees were exposed to rotating parts on the de-lumper and rotary feed on the SDA. The employer did not place caution signs on the access doors of the de-lumper and rotary feed to warn employees of amputation hazards.
Citation 1 Item 4
Type of Violation: Serious; $5,000
29 CFR 1910.269( d)(2)(v): The employer did not conduct periodic inspection of the energy control procedure at least annually to ensure that the procedure and the provisions of paragraph (d) of this section are being followed.
The employer did not ensure that periodic inspections of the energy control procedures were conducted at least annually such as but not limited to the SDA clean out process.
Citation 2 Item 1
Type of Violation: Willful; $70,000
29 CFR 1910.269(d)(6): Lockout/tagout application. The established procedures for the application of energy control (the lockout or tagout procedures) did not include the following elements and actions, and these procedures were not performed in the following sequence:
On or about December 7, 2015, employees were exposed to machine hazards associated with moving parts, and in-going nip points during the servicing of the SDA’s. The employer failed to implement energy control application steps for employees who performed servicing and maintenance on the SDA’s.
Employees were not required to:
- Know the type and magnitude of the energy, the hazards of the energy to be controlled, and the method or means to control the energy,
- turn off and shut down the machine,
- physically locate and operate energy isolating devices in such a manner as to isolate the machine or equipment from the energy source,
- affix lockout or tagout devices to each energy isolating device,
- prior to the start of work on machines that have been locked out or tagged out, verify that isolation and deenergization of the machine or equipment have been accomplished.
Employees were working to clear plug ups on the SDA, while running, exposing employees to unguarded moving parts and in-going nip points.
CLICK HERE for the citations