August 28, 2018
U.S. Department of Labor Cites Thorpe Plant Services and Steel Dust
Recycling After Employee Hospitalized For Fall
MILLPORT, AL – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Thorpe Specialty Services Corp. - operating as Thorpe Plant Services Inc. - and Steel Dust Recycling LLC for fall and confined space hazards after an employee was hospitalized following a 30-foot fall at Steel Dust’s Millport, Alabama, facility. Thorpe Plant Services faces $175,528 in proposed penalties; Steel Dust’s penalties total $28,270.
OSHA cited Thorpe the maximum allowable penalty for exposing employees to fall hazards. The Agency also cited the company for failing to conduct atmospheric monitoring before allowing employees to enter a confined space; failing to develop a permit prior to employees entering a confined space; and to ensure emergency services were provided when employees entered a permit-required confined space. OSHA cited Steel Dust for exposing employees to fall hazards, failing to implement their permit space entry program, and not advising Thorpe that the required work involved a permit space entry.
“Both companies’ failure to comply with fall prevention requirements led to a serious injury that could have been prevented,” said OSHA Birmingham Area Office Director Ramona Morris.
The companies have 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to help ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education, and assistance. For more information, visit https://www.osha.gov.
The SDR plant utilizes a Waelz Kiln to reclaim zinc and other metals from EAF dust. While not a new technology, the Waelz Kiln process is the primary metals reclamation process that has proven economically sound for processing steel dust waste.
The Steel Dust Recycling plant consists of a conditioning, blending and pelletizing facility for the EAF dust to be processed, a Waelz Kiln for processing the steel dust, storage and loading facilities for products to be sold, and the latest environmental control systems. The facility is located on 66 acres near Millport, Alabama. The SDR site has direct access to four major rail carriers and is near multiple Interstate highways.
Developed in 1910, the Waelz Kiln is a proven technology for high-temperature metals recovery (HTMR) of EAF waste. The result is more highly concentrated zinc oxides which are used as raw materials for zinc smelters. While many other technologies have been successfully tested for processing steel dust, none have proven as economically feasible as the Waelz Kiln process, which remains the best demonstrated available technology for recycling steel dust.