The United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Indianhead Explorations, LLC for two willful and seven serious safety violations. These citations come as a result of an incident in March 2014 where two employees were injured while making modifications to the wood piping that supplied the gas and the gas heat exchangers by cutting into the gas supply pipe with a torch when the residual gas ignited inside the pipe and exploded due to the pressure. The citations carry fines in the amount of $93,300.

“This incident could have been prevented if the employer established and implemented necessary safety measures to ensure that the pipe was properly vented to release the heat and pressure that builds up inside the pipe,” said Brian Sturtecky, OSHA’s area director in Jacksonville. “The employer’s lack of safety procedures endangered all workers at this facility and resulted in one employee being permanently disabled.”

The citations included exposing employees to amputation hazards and allowing two boom cranes to be in operation when they were not annually inspected and had deficiency notices for defective brakes and load cables. There were also citations for exposure to flying debris; use of compressed oxygen cylinders with a damaged regulator gauge; and failure to clean, ventilate or test the pipe and tanks of the wood gas cooling supply system prior to use.

These citations all fall within the scope of the injury, which is fortunate for Indianhead Explorations, as most audits do not end with citations confined to the incident at hand. This shows the importance of having a well crafted and properly maintained safety and health management system. Even if there are issues in one part of the plan, the rest is still well positioned to protect the company from an OSHA audit. If you have not recently updated your safety and health management system, or if you do not have one in place at all, you should consider contacting a qualified third party occupational safety and health auditing firm to assist you in ensuring your facility is fully OSHA compliant.

 

If you have any questions about safety and health management systems, please contact us. If you have anything to add about the importance of safety and health management systems, please leave a comment.