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View All NewsCoke plant explosion leads to fines for staffing buyer, supplier
A staffing buyer and a staffing firm face $161,100 in fines after an explosion in January at plant in Tonawanda, N.Y., injured two permanent employees and one temporary employee, OSHA announced Thursday. The plant produces foundry coke, a coal byproduct.
Fined in the case are Tonawanda Coke Corp. and staffing firm Kirchner LLC. The companies have 15 days to pay the penalty, request an informal conference or contest the findings.
The explosion was caused by an overpressured coke oven manifold, which released coke oven gas in an enclosed area where it ignited, according to OSHA. The flare stack, used to burn off excess coke oven gas, failed. OSHA determined this exposed Tonawanda Coke employees to asphyxiation from the release of gas, and explosion and fire hazards. OSHA concluded that the company failed to inspect and maintain safety systems properly to ensure their effectiveness.
“Had this company taken proper precautions and ensured that safety systems were working, this explosion would not have occurred. Equally disturbing, however, are the additional, preventable hazards the employer allowed at the plant,” said Michael Scime, OSHA's area director in Buffalo. “These conditions exposed workers to potential amputations, falls, crushing injuries, injury by unexpectedly activated machinery and an inability to exit the workplace swiftly if fire, explosions or other emergencies arose.”
Additional hazards found by OSHA included missing guardrails; obstructed emergency exit routes and a defective exit door; failure to lockout machines’ power sources before performing maintenance; use of uninspected cranes, lifting ropes and unguarded saws; improperly stored oxygen cylinders; and failure to determine employees’ levels of exposure to the hazardous substance hexavalent chromium and training them about its hazards.