This incident involved issues with LOTO and PPE with the line break/process opening. OSHA issued citations against 1910.111, .147, .134, and .1200.
At 4:00 p.m. on March 13, 2017, in preparation of a new pump arriving, a worker started draining lines leading to a 30,000-gallon liquid anhydrous ammonia tank. After the tank had been drained, the worker started loosening the bolts that held the pump down; however, he heard gas escaping and immediately stopped the work. He left the area, as well as the bolts in a loosened state. Later, he was assigned to get a truck while they waited for the tank to finish draining. Unaware of the potential gas leak, another employee returned from lunch and noticed the loosened bolts. So, this employee continued where the coworker had left off in removing the pump. As the employee used an impact wrench to finish removing the bolts, the pump came loose and released anhydrous ammonia. The caustic liquid contacted the employee’s hands, arms, and chin, where he sustained chemical burns.
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Violation Summary
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serious | Willful | Repeat | Other | Unclass | Total | |
| Initial Violations | 7 | 7 | ||||
| Current Violations | 7 | 7 | ||||
| Initial Penalty | $73,153 | $73,153 | ||||
| Current Penalty | $73,153 | $73,153 | ||||
| Violation Items | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Standard | Curr$ | Init$ |
| Serious |
1910.111(c)(2)(iii) Each storage container shall be provided with a pressure gage graduated from 0 to 400 p.s.i. Gages shall be designated for use in ammonia service. |
$12,675 | $12,675 |
| Serious |
1910.134(e)(1) General. The employer shall provide a medical evaluation to determine the employee’s ability to use a respirator before the employee is fit tested or required to use the respirator in the workplace. The employer may discontinue an employee’s medical evaluations when the employee is no longer required to use a respirator. |
$7,967 | $7,967 |
| Serious |
1910.134(f)(1) The employer shall ensure that employees using a tight-fitting facepiece respirator pass an appropriate qualitative fit test (QLFT) or quantitative fit test (QNFT) as stated in this paragraph. |
$9,959 | $9,959 |
| Serious |
1910.134(k) Training and information. This paragraph requires the employer to provide effective training to employees who are required to use respirators. The training must be comprehensive, understandable, and recur annually, and more often if necessary. This paragraph also requires the employer to provide the basic information on respirators in Appendix D of this section to employees who wear respirators when not required by this section or by the employer to do so. |
$9,959 | $9,959 |
| Serious |
1910.147(c)(4)(ii) The procedures shall clearly and specifically outline the scope, purpose, authorization, rules, and techniques to be utilized for the control of hazardous energy, and the means to enforce compliance including, but not limited to, the following:… |
$9,959 | $9,959 |
| Serious |
1910.147(d)(5)(i) Following the application of lockout or tagout devices to energy isolating devices, all potentially hazardous stored or residual energy shall be relieved, disconnected, restrained, and otherwise rendered safe. |
$9,959 | $9,959 |
| Serious |
1910.1200(h)(1) 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. |
$12,675 | $12,675 |
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