Tuesday, July 24, 2012

US Labor Department's OSHA cites Continental Carbonic Products for 17 health and safety violations at Greenville, Ohio, dry ice plant

GREENVILLE, Ohio – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited dry ice manufacturer and distributor Continental Carbonic Products Inc. for 17 serious health and safety violations at the company's Greenville facility. Upon receiving a complaint alleging hazards, OSHA initiated safety and health inspections in March and subsequently expanded the health inspection under the agency's National Emphasis Program for Process Safety Management. Proposed fines total $60,435.

"Failing to follow process safety management procedures to reduce workers' exposure to hazardous chemicals is unacceptable," said Bill Wilkerson, OSHA's area director in Cincinnati. "Employers have a responsibility to ensure that work environments are healthful and safe."

Ten serious health violations involve failing to establish an adequate emergency action plan, provide an emergency shower, follow up on process hazard analysis recommendations, provide adequate emergency shutdown procedures, provide sufficient training on standard operating and mechanical integrity procedures, adequately manage change procedures and properly handle small chemical releases.



Seven serious safety violations involve inadequate energy control procedures, a lack of proper forklift nameplates, improperly operating a forklift by not lowering employees in a workbasket to the floor when the operator leaves the operator's seat, inadequate employee training on safe electrical work practices and a lack of required personal protective gear for employees who perform work involving energized electrical equipment. 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.

OSHA's standards contain specific requirements for the management of hazards associated with processes using dangerous chemicals. Additional information is available online at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/processsafetymanagement/index.html.

Continental Carbonic Products Inc. manufactures and delivers dry ice throughout the eastern United States and Ontario, Canada. Headquartered in Decatur, Ill., the company has 38 manufacturing and distribution facilities. This inspection was OSHA's first at the Greenville facility. The company has been inspected by OSHA 14 times nationwide.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the current citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Cincinnati office at 513-841-4132.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

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