OSHA has cited a railcar service provider for confined space hazards after an employee fatality in Pennsylvania and faces $551,226 in proposed penalties. An employee asphyxiated in May 2019, while servicing a rail car containing crude oil sludge. OSHA cited the company for four (4) willful and three (3) serious violations for failing to protect employees from the hazards of entering permit-required confined spaces, and inadequate respiratory protection procedures. OSHA has placed the company in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program. OSHA offers several resources on Confined Spaces, including an Atmospheric Testing in Confined Spaces fact sheet, and a Permit-Required Confined Spaces booklet.
Here is a breakdown of the 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; $13,260
29 CFR 1910.146(e)(6): The employer did not retain each canceled entry permit for at least one year to facilitate the review of the permit-required confined space program required by 29 CFR 1910.146(d)(4):
a) employees entered tank railcars which were permit-required confined spaces, and the entry permits were not maintained, on or about May 27 to May 31, 2019.
Citation 1 Item 1b
Type of Violation: Serious
29 CFR 1910.146(f)(3): The entry permit that documented compliance and authorized entry to a permit space did not identify the date and the authorized duration of the entry permit:
a) employees entered tank railcars, which were permit-required confined spaces, and the permits did not document the authorized duration of the entries, on or about May 27 through May 31, 2019.
Citation 1 Item 1c
Type of Violation: Serious
29 CFR 1910.146(f)(10): The entry permit that documented compliance and authorized entry to a permit space did not identify the results of initial and periodic tests performed under 29 CFR 1910.146(d)(5), accompanied by the names or initials of the tester:
a) employees entered tank railcars which were permit-required confined spaces, and the permits did not identify the results of any periodic tests performed on each specific tank railcar including any during active sludge scraping and removal, on or about May 27 to May 31, 2019.
Citation 1 Item 1d
Type of Violation: Serious
29 CFR 1910.146(f)(11): The entry permit that documented compliance and authorized entry to a permit space did not identify the rescue and emergency services to be summoned and the means for summoning those services:
a) employees entered tank railcars which were permit-required confined spaces, and the permits did not identify the local rescue and emergency services to be summoned, on or about May 27 to May 31, 2019.
Citation 1 Item 2
Type of Violation: Serious; $13,260
29 CFR 191O.146(i)(10): The employer did not ensure that each attendant performed no duties that could interfere with the attendant’s primary duty to monitor and protect the authorized entrants:
a) employees entered tank railcars which were permit-required confined spaces, and the attendant was responsible for getting off of the tank railcars to assist with the dumping of the crude oil sludge barrels into the disposal drums, on or about May 27 to May 31, 2019.
Citation 1 Item 3
Type of Violation: Serious; $13,260
29 CFR 1910.146(k)(2)(iii): The employer did not ensure that at least one member of the rescue team or service held a current certification in First Aid and CPR.
a) employees entered tank railcars which were permit-required confined spaces, and none of the employees on the site were trained and held current certifications in basic first-aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), on or about May 27 to May 31, 2019.
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; $132,598
29 CFR 1910.134(d)(1)(ii): The employer did not select and use a NIOSH-certified respirator in compliance with the conditions of its certification:
a) employees entered tank railcars that contained an IDLH atmosphere to scrape crude oil sludge, and the respirators were not used in compliance with their NIOSH certification, on or about May 27 to May 31, 2019.
Citation 2 Item 1b
Type of Violation: Willful
29 CFR 1910.134(d)(2)(i): The employer did not provide either a full facepiece pressure demand SCBA certified by NIOSH for a minimum service life of thitty minutes or a combination full facepiece pressure demand supplied-air respirator with auxiliary self-contained air supply for employee use in IDLH atmospheres:
a) employees entered rail cars with an IDLH atmosphere to scrape crude oil sludge, and the entrants did not wear either a full facepiece pressure demand SCBA certified by NIOSH for a minimum service life of thitty minutes or a combination full facepiece pressure demand supplied-air respirator with auxiliary self-contained air supply, on or about May 27 to May 31, 2019.
Citation 2 Item 2
Type of Violation: Willful; $113,652
29 CFR 1910.134(e)(1): The employer did not provide a medical evaluation to determine the employee’s ability to use a respirator, before the employee was fit tested or required to use the respirator in the workplace:
a) employees wearing North 5400 series full face respirators entered tank railcars, and medical evaluations were not provided, on or about May 27 to May 31, 2019.
Citation 2 Item 3
Type of Violation: Willful; $132,598
29 CFR 1910.134(£)(2): Employee(s) using tight-fitting facepiece respirators were not fit tested prior to initial use of the respirator and at least annually thereafter.
a) employees wearing North 5400 series full-face respirators entered tank railcars which were permit-required confined spaces and were not fit tested prior to the initial use of the respirators, on or about May 27 to May 31, 2019.
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 4a
Type of Violation: Willful; $132,598
29 CFR 1910.146(d)(3)(iv): Under the permit-required confined space program required by 29 CFR 1910.146(c)(4), the employer did not develop and implement the means, procedures, and practices necessary for safe permit entry operations, including but not limited to, purging, inerting, flushing or ventilating the permit space as necessary to control atmospheric hazards:
a) employees entered tank railcars which were permit required confined spaces with IDLH atmospheres to scrape crude oil sludge, and the interiors of the tank railcars were not purged, flushed, or ventilated prior to or throughout the entries, on or about May 27 to May 31, 2019.
Citation 2 Item 4b
Type of Violation: Willful
29 CFR 1910.146(d)(5)(i): Under the permit-required confined space program required by 29 CFR 1910.146(c)(4), the employer did not evaluate permit space conditions when entry operations were conducted by testing conditions in the permit space to determine if acceptable conditions existed before entry was authorized to begin:
a) employees entered tank railcars which were permit-required confined spaces that contained IDLH atmospheres, and air monitoring of the interior was not performed prior to entry, on or about May 27 to May 31, 2019.
Citation 2 Item 4c
Type of Violation: Willful
29 CFR 1910.146(d)(5)(ii): Under the permit-required confined space program required by 29 CFR 1910.146(c)(4), the employer did not evaluate permit space conditions when entry operations were conducted by testing or monitoring the pennit space as necessary to ensure that acceptable conditions of entry were being maintained during the course of entry operations:
a) employees entered tank railcars, which was a permit required confined space that contained an IDLH atmosphere, to scrape crude oil, and air monitoring of the interior was not monitored throughout the duration of the entry, on or about May 27 to May 31, 2019.
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