Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard:

OSH ACT of 1970 Section (5)(a)(1): Respondent Waste Management of West Virginia, Inc did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to workers in that: (a) Jobsite: On May 25, 2018, Respondent Waste Management of West Virginia, Inc exposed its employees to were exposed to fire and explosion hazards when they worked in the vicinity of a tank decommissioning process being conducted by employees of a third party. An employee received burns that resulted in his death and two other employees sustained injuries when one of the tanks exploded as employees of the third party attempted to open a hole in the tank with a torch. A feasible abatement method to correct these hazards would be for the employer to reinforce prior training to ensure that, when a third party is conducting hot work in connection with the decommissioning of tanks that might pose a fire/explosion hazard, employee either leave the work site prior to the decommissioning of tanks by the third party or remove themselves to a sufficiently safe distance prior to hot work being performed on tanks by the third party.