Safety procedure wasn't in writing: One dead, 22 injured, OSHA issues fine

Safety procedure wasn’t in writing: One dead, 22 injured, OSHA issues fine

November 5, 2008 by Fred Hosier

Posted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Who Got Fined and Why?

Here’s a reminder about why it pays to document safety procedures.

OSHA has fined International Paper Co.’s Vicksburg, MS, plant $77,000. The agency investigated the plant following a May explosion that killed one employee and injured 22 others.

International Paper received one willful and one serious violation.

The willful violation is for failing to start a recovery boiler with adequate steam and not developing safe procedures to start the boiler. (OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health.)

The serious violation is for failing to have written procedures to determine that an adequate amount of odorant was being added to the natural gas supply line coming into the power plant. (A serious violation is one that could cause death or serious injury and the employer should have known about.)

A recovery boiler at the plant exploded in May during a start-up. Employees were exposed to a fire and explosion.

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Tags: death, explosion, fire, injury, OSHA fine

Forist

As a former supervisor for a chemical recovery boiler operation I’m surprised that IP was charged with not having procedures in place. Every recovery boiler comes with a manufacturers operating manual and typically in such operations there are regular scheduled training sessions to keep everyone abreast of operational changes or critical safety procedures. Was the chief operator new? Were there changes made in the system that people were not fully aware of? What role did department management have in this incident? When was the last time that safety devices were inspected and tested? Did operators ignore warning systems? Surely this was not the first time the crew started the boiler.

Recovery Boilers are unlike other production equipment. You don’t just puch a switch to start or stop them. There are squences one must follow through startup/shutdown curves. Even in ESP (Emergency Shutdown Procedures) there are squences that must be followed.

This incident is not just about written procedures. Training, leadership and comprehension of safety practices is the under lying case.
Paul L. McCurdy

On the letter why it pays to document safety procedures, can the company be sued also by the employee for not having the procedures set in place in the event he or she gets hurt.