Occupational Safety and Health Administration Logs

would a manager OKing a safety feature on a machine be bypassed an issue for OSHA?

I work for a company that uses static electricity to apply a highly flammable substance to its product. and the plant manager allowed fire suppression equipment to bypassed in order to allow production to continue. when i questioned the situation i was answered with snotty remarks and enough spin to drive a presidency campaign. does anyone think this is an issue for OSHA or another safety organization to look into?

Public Comments

1. It depends. The fire marshal would probably be the primary gov't agency to concern itself with the bypassing of fire protection equipment. It sounds like the process you're talking about is powdercoating. The rules for powercoating are 1910,107(I) http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=9753 One paragraph reads: "In addition to the provisions of paragraph (d) of this section, where applicable, exhaust ventilation shall be sufficient to maintain the atmosphere below the lowest explosive limits for the materials being applied. All nondeposited air-suspended powders shall be safely removed via exhaust ducts to the powder recovery cyclone or receptacle. Each installation shall be designed and operated to meet the foregoing performance specification." I don't see anything specific to fire suppression, but if there's an issue with fire and powdercoating, it's going to be a combustable dust "explosion" or more accurately, deflagration. It'll kill you before the sprinklers have a chance to put you out (think quick, hot, and violent). The important thing is that the ventilation is sufficient to keep the concentration of dust below the deflagration limit. Your state may have some more specific fire suppression requirements, but I bet the company's fire insurance company and the fire marshal would be very interested in the fact that the system is being bypassed. Good luck.