In April, Charles Sittig was killed at the CES Environmental Services facility in Port Arthur, TX.

Three men have died at CES plants since December 2008.

OSHA cited the company for 34 violations, including a willful citation for failure to establish a rescue team capable of assisting a worker who becomes incapacitated while cleaning out chemicals tanks.

Other citations include raised platforms without railings, poorly maintained ladders and failure to develop decontamination procedures.

The company has 15 days to decide whether to contest the citations.

Two workers died recently at CES’ Houston plant. In December 2008, one worker died in an explosion that sent metal debris into nearby properties. In July 2009, a CES employee died when an explosion and flash fire at the Houston plant knocked him from the top of a mobile tank he was filling with water. OSHA is still investigating that death.

And the rulemaking process is moving along.

OSHA has submitted the proposed regulation to the Office of Management and Budget for review.

That news comes in the wake of the Chemical Safety Board’s recent release of its investigation into the explosion and fire that killed 14 and injured 36 at the Imperial Sugar plant in Wentworth, GA.

In a 25-year period, 281 combustible dust explosions and fires killed 119 workers and injured 718.

A number of OSHA standards address aspects of combustible dust control, including those on housekeeping, emergency action plans, ventilation, spray finishing, permit required confined spaces and electric power generation.

Do you think a separate OSHA standard on combustible dust is necessary? Let us know what you think in the Comments Box below, and take our Quick Poll on our home page.

In its final report on the explosion, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) said ongoing releases of sugar from poorly designed and maintained dust collection equipment, conveyors, and sugar handling equipment led to the blast.

Inadequate housekeeping allowed highly combustible sugar dust to build up throughout the plant’s packing buildings.

A conveyor had been enclosed, creating a confined, unventilated space where sugar dust could accumulate to an explosive concentration. It’s likely the dust was ignited by an overheated bearing.

The initial explosion caused a cascade of secondary dust explosions in adjacent packing buildings.

On top of these problems, the CSB said Imperial hadn’t conducted evacuation drills for its employees and that the explosions and fires disabled most of the emergency lighting, making it difficult for workers to escape.

A 2006 CSB study identified 281 combustible dust fires and explosions between 1980 and 2005 that killed 119 workers and injured 718, and extensively damaged industrial facilities. In April, OSHA started development of a combustible dust standard. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has recommended practices for preventing dust fires and explosions.

Milk Specialties Co. of Whitehall, WI, faces $1.14 million in OSHA fines in connection with a Dec. 2008 inspection. Inspectors visited the facility in response to a complaint alleging a variety of hazards at Milk Specialties’ whey processing plant.

OSHA issued 17 willful violations, totaling $1.07 million, for confined space and control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout) requirements.

The citations say untrained employees entered confined spaces and performed maintenance and cleaning on powered equipment without protection from various hazards.

The company also faces 4 repeat and 17 serious citations that account for the balance of the total fine. Among the other citations:

• combustible dust hazards
• lack of exit route lighting and signage
• uninspected fire extinguishers, and
• deficiencies in guarding floor and wall openings.

Milk Specialties has been inspected by OSHA 15 times since 1974, including 4 inspections in Wisconsin between 2006 and 2008.

The company has 15 days to accept or appeal the citations.

You can read more about OSHA’s citation here.

OSHA wielded its more expensive willful, repeat and serious citations against this company that has a history of safety violations.

But, is a million-dollar citation enough, or should OSHA take further steps against the company such as closing this particular facility until safety improvements are made?

Let us know what you think in the Comments Box below.

Police say Cody Rigsby was buried under several feet of grain inside a bin at the Tempel Grain elevator.

On the day of the incident, local emergency officials were notified at 1:30 p.m. that a worker was missing and believed trapped in the bin, according to The Pueblo Chieftain.

Four fire departments and community volunteers worked until 7 p.m. the same day to recover Rigsby’s body. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

It’s not known what safety equipment was being used at the time of the incident.

Workers should be trained to assume that the potential for entrapment in a bin with stored loose materials (grain, sand, gravel, coal) is always present, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Other safety steps:

• Workers shouldn’t be allowed to enter a storage area from the bottom when material is adhering to the sides or is bridged overhead.
• When workers must enter storage areas, they should stay above the material at all times and never stand or walk on top of it.
• Any time a worker enters a storage area, the supply and discharge of materials must be stopped and locked out.
• Workers entering storage areas should wear safety belts or harnesses with properly fastened life lines.

A worker at a soup factory in Germany died after getting trapped inside a giant cauldron and cooking to death, according to the newspaper, Bild.

The man had climbed into the cauldron at the Eraso soup factory to clean it.

The cauldron’s lid suddenly closed while the man was still inside. It started to fill with steam as part of the disinfection process.

A doctor confirmed the man had been cooked to death.

Police and workplace safety officials are investigating.

Prosecutors also have the ability to press criminal charges against the company in addition to OSHA’s penalty.

Crossroad Cooperative Association of Nebraska pleaded guilty to a criminal violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act in the 2007 grain bin suffocation of an employee. It will pay a $100,000 fine and be on probation for two years as a result.

In 2007, 18-year-old Joseph Teague died after a foreman told him to go into a grain bin with an auger conveyor belt running, according to the Journal Star. OSHA requires such machinery to be shut off if someone enters a bin. Teague was buried in five to seven feet of grain. His body wasn’t found for 30 minutes.

As part of the plea, Crossroads is required to allow OSHA inspectors to have unrestricted access to its plant.

The company settled a civil case against it for $50,000. Teague’s family collected money through the company’s workers’ comp insurance.

Nebraska’s U.S. Attorney, Joe Stecher, said his office will be aggressive in prosecuting companies that don’t provide a safe environment for workers.

An unidentified employee of Precision Industrial Maintenance in Schenectady, NY, was overcome by toxic fumes in a tank truck at the company’s headquarters. A second employee tried to help the first man but was also overcome, according to the Daily Gazette.

Firefighters pulled the two unconscious men from the tank. The first man died. The second survived, but spent time in a hospital intensive care unit.

So the message has to be sent to workers: If you don’t have the proper protective equipment to enter a confined space that may contain toxic fumes, don’t go in, even if you find a co-worker collapsed inside. You may become a victim yourself in the process of trying to save someone else.

In this case, OSHA has now fined Precision $56,000 for various violations, including one willful citation, with a $35,000 proposed fine, for not providing employees with confined space rescue training at least once every 12 months.

Five serious citations were issued for Precision’s failure to:

• test conditions in confined spaces before entry
• complete required entry permits
• provide confined space training to employees
• evaluate rescue services for employees entering confined spaces, and
• provide confined space warnings signs.

OSHA’s statement about its fines against Precision is available here.