Thursday, September 8, 2016

OSHA cites TimkenSteel's Canton, Ohio, plant after worker dies from nitrogen exposure





September 8, 2016

OSHA cites TimkenSteel's Canton, Ohio, plant after worker dies from nitrogen exposure
OSHA also finds fall hazards in separate investigation

Employer name: TimkenSteel Corporation, 4511 Faircrest St., SW, Canton, Ohio

Citations issued: Sept. 7, 2016

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Cleveland Area Office has cited the steel mill for two repeated and four serious safety violations following two separate March 2016 agency investigations at the company's Canton plant.

On March 20, 2016, OSHA responded to a report that a worker was found dead in the elevator control room while performing monthly fire extinguisher checks. An investigation determined nitrogen leaked into the control room resulting in an oxygen deficient atmosphere causing the worker's death. OSHA cited the company for failing to: 


  • Protect workers from potentially hazardous atmospheres created by the introduction of nitrogen into the ventilation system.
  • Train workers using pneumatic tools powered by nitrogen on the hazards, effects and how to detect nitrogen leakage.

View citations here.

Acting on a complaint alleging safety concerns at the facility, OSHA opened an investigation March 18, 2016, which found the company:

  • Exposed workers to fall hazards of up to 20 feet while performing maintenance in the rolling mill.
  • Failed to install guardrails on walkways.

View citations here.

Quote: "As a result of the fatality, the company discontinued the use of nitrogen to power tools and removed all the connections from the ventilation systems," said Howard Eberts, OSHA's area director in Cleveland. "TimkenSteel has made significant strides in fixing safety discrepancies and improving the framework of the safety and health management system in its aging plants in recent months. These two investigations demonstrate that maintaining a safe working environment requires a commitment to continuous improvement."

Background: TimkenSteel signed a settlement agreement in August 2016 to abate hazards cited by OSHA at its Ohio steel plants in 2015, including multiple violations of fall protections standards. Under terms of the agreement, TimkenSteel will implement numerous enhancements such as a STOP work card program, an anonymous safety reporting system, create a United Steel Workers safety position at three facilities, retain an abatement auditor, create an electronic tracking of corrections, and conduct routine safety audits for fall hazards and lockout/tagout procedures. View agreement here.

Total Proposed Penalties: $113,131

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report amputations, eye loss, 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 Cleveland Area Office at 216-447-4194.


NITROGEN - N


Increases the strength, hardness and machinability of steel, but it decreases the ductility and toughness. In aluminum-killed steels, nitrogen combines with the aluminum to provide grain size control, thereby improving both toughness and strength. Nitrogen can reduce the effect of boron on the hardenability of steels.
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TimkenSteel
Our Business


TimkenSteel is a top focused special bar quality, or SBQ, steelmaker in North America. While we are the leading manufacturer of SBQ steel large bars (6-inch diameter and greater) and seamless mechanical tubing in North America, that is only part of our story.



The TimkenSteel business model is unique in our industry and focuses on creating tailored products and services for our customers’ most demanding applications. Our engineers are experts in both materials and applications, so we can work closely with each customer to deliver flexible solutions related to our products as well as their applications and supply chains. We believe few others in our industry can consistently deliver that kind of customization and responsiveness.



We manufacture alloy steel, as well as carbon and micro-alloy steel, with an annual melt capacity of approximately 2 million tons. Our portfolio includes SBQ bars, seamless mechanical tubing and precision steel components. In addition, we supply machining and thermal treatment services, as well as manage raw material recycling programs. We focus on research and development as we create the answers to customers’ toughest engineering challenges and leverage those answers into new product offerings.


How We Operate





Facilities



We make our steel products in the United States in Akron, Canton and Eaton, Ohio; Columbus, North Carolina; and Houston, Texas. To serve customers around the world, we have warehouses in the United States, Mexico and China and offices in all those countries plus England and Poland.



Visit the Our Locations page for contact information for – and maps to – these facilities. 


History



TimkenSteel is a new, independent company with a century-long history. It began as the steel business of The Timken Roller Bearing Company, founded by carriage maker and inventor Henry Timken and his two sons. A strategic decision to gain greater control over its supply of steel led the company to pierce steel in 1915 and go on to melt steel in 1917.


 At the time, the business had one of the country’s largest electric-arc furnace facilities. TimkenSteel has its roots in continuously improving steel for one of the most demanding applications, bearings. Through the years, that focus on application knowledge and innovation led to a business that created customized solutions – from materials to components to logistics services – for applications that reach every corner of the globe in customer applications. 




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OSHA: Nitrogen gas exposure likely culprit in TimkenSteel death


By Repository staff report
Posted Mar. 21, 2016 at 7:32 AM
Updated Mar 21, 2016 at 5:48 PM


A fire technician at the TimkenSteel Faircrest plant appears to have died from exposure to nitrogen gas, federal investigators said Monday.


Kenny Ray Jr., 32, was found unresponsive shortly before 4 p.m. Sunday at the plant at 4511 Faircrest St. SW in Perry Township. A member of TimkenSteel's security and fire team, Ray had been in an elevator room checking fire extinguishers, the company said. The Stark County Coroner's Office later pronounced him dead. 


An autopsy was planned for Monday evening.
Investigators with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said the tests of the room by company employees and Perry Township firefighters detected oxygen levels were less than 4 percent. OSHA's initial investigation determined that nitrogen, which is used in the plant, somehow was released into the room. When nitrogen concentration rises and oxygen levels drop below 19.5 percent, rapid suffocation can occur, OSHA said.


COMPANY COOPERATING


In a statement, Howard Eberts, OSHA's Area Director in Cleveland, called Ray's death a "preventable workplace incident." Companies that use nitrogen systems should make sure they recognize the hazard of oxygen deficiency can exist because nitrogen has the ability to displace oxygen, he said. 


OSHA is working with TimkenSteel engineers to trace the nitrogen system and determine if any other oxygen deficient atmosphere areas exist in the plant. Tests are being made before other employees are allowed to return to the work area. In November, OSHA cited TimkenSteel for nitrogen exposure because of an incident in May 2015, OSHA said. TimkenSteel has contested the violation, OSHA said. 


TimkenSteel issued a statement Monday that said Ray was a "well-respected member" of its security and fire team. He has worked at the steel company for six months. The company also said it is helping with the investigation.
Tom Stone, vice president of industrial relations and environmental, health and safety, said Ray was checking fire extinguishers throughout the plant as part of his job. Members of the security team found him unresponsive in a fifth-floor elevator motor room.


"This is a sad time for our entire workforce at TimkenSteel. We want to express our sympathies to Kenny’s family, friends and the communities he served as a police officer and firefighter,” Stone said in a statement.


OSHA ISSUES


TimkenSteel has been cited several times over the past year by OSHA for a string of safety violations. The company is facing fines totaling more than $500,000. OSHA placed TimkenSteel on a severe violator list last October following investigations at the Gambrinus and Harrison steel plants.


Last May, a Gambrinus worker was seriously injured when a safety latch failed on a crane and 1,000 pounds of equipment fell on him. In August a worker in the Faircrest plant suffered serious injuries when he fell more than 40 feet from a crane.


OSHA officials said that since 2005 the company, which in 2014 was spun off by Timken Co. to create TimkenSteel, was inspected 29 times and issued 76 violations.

Stone said TimkenSteel has been working with OSHA and employees "on additional actions to strengthen our safety program. We have addressed every issue that OSHA has identified at our facilities over the past year," he said. The company also has hired an independent auditor to do assessments, engaged employees in safety auditing, followed up on every concern and taken additional actions.


TimkenSteel has several uses for nitrogen at the Faircrest plant, a company spokesman said. The gas is used in the steel refining process, to open and close valves on pneumatic operated equipment, and to cool equipment.


ALWAYS READY


Besides his job at TimkenSteel, Ray, of Atwater, also was an 11-year veteran of the Uniontown Fire Department and worked as an officer with the Creston Police Department. 


In an email to The Repository Monday, Uniontown fire officials said Ray would be one of the first people to take the new recruits under his wing to share his knowledge and his experience. 


"Kenny was one of the first to step up in any situation to get the job done," the email from the department said. "His fellow firefighting family is devastated of his passing and will never forget the legacy that he has left behind." 


The email also included a statement from Ray's wife that said the family requested privacy during their time of mourning. 


"The Ray family is deeply saddened by the loss of our beloved Kenny, he will be truly missed. Please keep our family and friends in your prayers during our time of mourning," according to the statement. 


Creston police posted a message to its official Facebook page Sunday stating that Ray had been one of the department's newer officers. The department also said Ray was well liked and accepted by the department, and he had worked as a police officer in other jurisdictions since 2008.Calling hours for Ray will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Maranatha Bible Church at 1424 Killian Road in Akron. Stark County firefighters will conduct a last alarm ceremony at 1 p.m.