Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 004B Hazard:

29 CFR 1910.146(c)(4): When the employer decided that its employees would enter permit spaces, the employer did not develop and implement a written permit space entry program that complied with 29 CFR 1910.146. (a) On or about January 13, 2024, and at times prior, located at Ellwood Engineered Castings Company in Hubbard, Ohio, employees entered the casting pit under conditions that would require its designation as a permit-required confined space. The employer did not develop and implement a written permit space entry program that complied with 29 CFR 1910.146. Employees are exposed to hazards such as, but not limited to, severe thermal burn injuries, and smoke inhalation while molten metal is poured into molds from an overhead ladle. With respect to the casting pit located in the Casting Department, the company's confined space written procedures lacked the development of items such as, but not limited to, the following: i. Specific measures necessary to prevent unauthorized entry into the casting pit as required by 1910.146(d)(1); ii. Specific means, procedures, and practices necessary for specifying acceptable condition for entry into the casting pit as required by 1910.146(d)(3)(i); iii. Specific means, procedures, and practices necessary for verifying that conditions in the casting pit are acceptable for entry throughout the duration of an authorized entry as required by 1910.146(d)(3)(vi); iv. Specific designation of the persons who are to have active roles in casting pit entry operations as required by 1910.146(d)(8); v. Specific procedures for summoning rescue and emergency services to the casting pit, for rescuing entrants from the pit, for providing necessary emergency services to employees rescued from the pit, and for preventing unauthorized personnel from attempting a rescue into the pit as required by 1910.146(d)(9).