OSHA has cited Welco Acetylene Corp. for 19 serious safety violations following an inspection of its repackaging facility in Newark, NJ. The inspection began in May under OSHA's national emphasis program for process safety management for covered chemical facilities. Proposed fines total $49,200.
The serious violations include the company's failure to:
- Maintain combustible waste material in appropriate metal receptacles.
- Correct equipment deficiencies.
- Provide training to fork truck operators.
- Ensure a diked wall for an acetone storage tank was liquid-tight.
- Develop and implement written operating procedures to conduct activities safely and maintain the ongoing integrity of process equipment.
- Implement safe work practices regarding the accountability of outside contractors or evaluate contractor safety information and performance.
- Develop and implement equipment-specific procedures to control hazardous energy.
- Follow recognized and generally accepted engineering practices for inspecting and testing equipment.
- Maintain historical inspection and testing records for process equipment.
- Compile process safety information before conducting a process hazard analysis.
- Maintain piping and instrumentation diagrams.
- Conduct facility siting adequately, as part of the process hazard analysis, to assess hazards on-site.
- Ensure written operating procedures address safety systems and their functions.
- Perform a required management of change and update written operating procedures accordingly.
A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA area director in Parsippany, or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
