ACHIEVING AND MA.1NTAINING OSHA vpp "STAR" FACILITY STATUS

Bogdan J. Kullniel"A: Maintenance Superintendent MODrcnay Energy Resources ConShohocken,Pennsyhr.uUa

!;!r H. Sammons Manaaer

Montcnay Erwgy Resources Conshohocken,

ABSTRACT

The OccupatioDal Safety and Health AdministIation (OSHA) created the Voluntary Progxam

welled to as VW) to x:c:oog.nP.e ind!lstrial 1ha1 dc:monsbate exemplary safety and health

prOgramS, which exoec.d the minimum set forth by the Code of Foderal Regulations. The Montenay lnu.mational ColponitiOn. parent company of Montenay Energy of Montgomery County, Inc. (hereafter to as MERMCI) committed :

and funding 10 prepare the site for OSHA VPP

MERMCI first all aspects of their safety and health COJltpallng existing . to OSHA guidelines for to&al safety compliance. met preliminary guidelines, dedicated pasonnel prepared the

INTKODUCl'lON

The main of ift the OSHA Voluntary Ptoteclion serves to a high

of safety awareness among all Following the guidelines of OSHA and the Code of Rcgulations (29 Part 1910. for General Industry),

facilities are to train monitor health ooaditions and coned safety issues. This ensures the environment and workplace are free of any potential hazards or engineering

Jay Lebr Facility Montenay Enl':'gy Conshnbocken, 'CD:

application, which took about one (J) . The application was submitted to OSHA in WashingtOll2 D.C. and the Philadelphia region Tn office for preliminary &Pfl'OVal.

The regional VPP visited the site to verify qualifications governing the basis for program admittance. Injury and rates, indnsby

. d . .. 1 • compa050DS an Wltja pacticcs were examined A tentative date was set to pcrfOi m an in-dc:pth inSJa.:ction of the facility, . the majority of the and make a for pt'08Iam approval.

The OSHA and a in the Voluntaty level.

thoroughly inspc~ the facility for MBRMCI to participeu:

Program at the "STAR"

controls to be practi~ and utiJi7..ation of known and existing equipment to mJ!JO'"

The OSHA VPP has three (3) levels of and arc n:ferred to as 1) Demonstration- Injmy and il1ncss rates arc at or above the some safety programs exist but arc in of 2) Mtl'it-Injury and illness rates arc at or below the hvtnstay

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average; some or the majority of safety programs are in ·place. 3) Star- Injury and ratC$ are below lhe industry average; aDd health proguuns are exemplaly .and go beyond the minimum OSHA requiIements. CUllen! rcoognized facilities number 530, nationwide.

FACII·ITY OVERVIJi:W

• The MERMCI fscility began commercial operation in

of 1992. This Waste-to-Energy facility 1216 tons of muniCipal solid waSlC daily.

converting energy into electrical generation. The turbine-generator output 32 megawatts of electricity that is sold to PECO, a local utility. The facility operates 24 hours a day, 365 days 8 year with 2

maintenance outage periods, at Six-month intervals, lasting appoximately 6-10 days per unit Each unit a>nsists of a watt. wall tube, stepper glale furnace and supporting auxiliary equipment The facility has two (2) units and one (1) turbinc .

Employees at MERMCI are made up of three (3) depaillllems; Administration, - and Maintenance. personneL, numbering some 26 skilled and semi-skilled pov.er plant workers including

Control Room and plant equipment work 12 hour on four (4) crews. 10

• maJDtenana: comprised of mechanics, technicians are scheduled on

regular busineu hows. numbering ten (10) consist of

and

and a five (S) day Administrative a Facility personnel, work . regular business hours, five days a

service personnel and outside a>ntractors freqUently arc on site to perforDl various tasks, as

During the construction and initia) start-up phase of the facility, the ()pei3tions Manager and. CorpclJate Safety Manager 9ltministeJed safety training. As the staff gained e.'qICrieD(:e in power plant operations, safety . rccordkceping and - hygiene monitoring duties were along to the Sbift Supervisors, who could morc and tnlCk the ongoing safety and

The facility bas steacti1y enhanced its safi::ly and health awaJClle5S and from 1991 to

by the errOl 15 an employees, working as a

This pap r will a overview of the facility pr~red for an OSHA evaluation for VPP adnliaance aud will explain the benefits in doing so.

In December of 1995, a review of our OSHA 200 logs a downwanl in injury and il1neu rates for

the fu!t tout' }e81'S of operation Incident rates for the facility vs. average were and a new direction was ncx:dcd to reduce injuries and atddcnts even lbe President and Vice Corporate Safety

Facility Opcnl1lioDS Manager and a Shift discussed the benc6ts of pwslliog the OSHA Program as an to enhance . our efforts for safety awareness using all available towan:l a for safety and health.

Mr. John SiIII1IDOIlS, an Opcutjons SupclvisoI, was assigned to ove.stC our efforts in and exploring the of a "Star" work site. Mr. Sammons and the Coapot'are Safety Mr. Angus Miller in Islip, New York.,

and oonfelenoc:s to knowledge to establish comprehensive and safety programs that would eel set forth by OSHA. An Ref-Fuel facility, located in New York (Long was a>lltacted aod to assist us in our programs. 1bis was the initial boost that pr'ovided us the to VPP.

RefMFuel, bad achieved "Star" status about two (2) prior to our interest.

With C01po"'te Sl'WOlI, Facility to pa'OCCCd with this project. Having done so, a was held with all County employees and the project was explained, bel~e£i1S detailed and an employee buy·in was realiztrl This single and initial step would serve as the most iDlfll)llant aspect of the mtin:

Without employee involvement, a comJ.ehensive health and safety . would and will not fw\ction to its highest potential.

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To align MERMCI' safety and health p-ogralll5 with OSHA the following points were scrutinized and cnh 81ll"'01, whele

Management Commitment and Planning - Goal oriented objectives, established policies . Accountability - Documented for holding managers and responsible

). [)isciplJntJl')l Program - written program conunutliatfcd to all Injury ral4:s - Three year average rale for both total and lost Employee Ptu1idpalion - meaningful ways for employees to participate in the program Self-Inspections - Industry, monthly. tracking M7Jlrds to c::ompietion, ctc. Employee Hmard Repol"ling System - wriuen reporting system/tracking 10 completion AccidentlIncident Invej1igalion - written

to conection JSAlProcess Review - Analysis of job and ha7.ards

FACn.J'I'Y VPP IMPLEMENTATION

These 19 VPP ~ties constitute the basic clements of the A . effcctive and comprehensive facility safety and heallh pograro will contain all 19 element1, as a minimum and will include

clcmMU wauaDted by the and nat1JrC of the business.

With a (3) year injwy and illness below tatinp and ongoing training in place, ME;RMCI a 102-page apPiClliion delai1ing all peatinent

required by the application submittal guidelines of OSHA ContenU of this document included Corporate and Facility staff safety

and wiillcn program clements. A statement is attached and to, for the purpose of autbeoticating the

On JaDIISry 15, 1997 MERMCI its applirntion to OSHA in WashingtOn D.C. and to the

11 Region 111 office. Mr. Peter Brown, regional VPP coordinator, contacted the facility in early to ;: ~ipt of the sppI.ication and to briefly

some preliminary details. His in the field was baving bad no in this particular aspect of • pnor

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» Safety and Health Training - PPE usc, emergencies. hazard aW3ICileSS and Preventive MaintenanCll - written program and ongoing monitoring of

» Eme'8ency - written program and unannounced ch ills

,. Health Program - BaseliDc surveys, sampling and testing in all areas of the facility Pel'sonal Protective Equipment- Baining, care, use aDd replacement . Softty & Health Staff Involvlld with Changes - New

and material analysis Contractor Safety - Selection, and enforcement

» Medical Program - escablisbed pbysician and employee training for 111 Aid/CPR Resources - Access to and Industrial Hygienist Annual Evaluanon - action ()()~cring all 19 clements with status from preceding

generation. He and obtained a date of April 21, 1997, to take an initial tour of our facility and 10 verify

The staff and the facility safety with Mr. Brown on April 21,

1997 for most of the day. Peter Brown is a OSHA official having spent years as a compliance officer. in the field. His first of

alter inh odm:tions was to verify the Industrial Classification (SIC) code and injUry and illness . avenges with our three-year average. calculations a 92% below indnslJy average, for injwy rates, 81 MomgcmCiY County; a point that would later pove jn$truDlental in c:cnfUllling the of pIog&am . Mr. Brown to discuss other facts and findings of his

of our - He his visit with a tOlD' of the facility.

Continuing our preparation for the OSHA on-site which Peter Brown for

the week of August 21, we seven! att8 (witbin our OSHA Vpl' to allow us to

visilldiscuss what we should and could CXI:«:t of our

inspection. OSHA recently has encour:aged "ou~h" methods, compmics working toward a common goal of safety oriemed programs. may and should shan: iDfoJluatioD, PloYen methods and We found that region III already as "Starn sites, were to our requests for assiS1ancc and communication nus is an ongoing benefit of participating iD VPP.

The OSHA consisted of Mr. Peter Brown. Regional VPP Mr. Gerald Kennedy, esp, International Paper Co., Covington, KentucJcy, government employee for OSHA VPP sites and Mr. John Womer, Safety Specialist, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania OSHA rc';onat office. Their one week on-site . consisted of a detailed of the facilitY for compliance in safely and issues, reviewing the written progtam materials, verifying ~rdJc«:pmg of and loodical records, employee interviews to conclude the effectiveness of training and to an overview of the

Employees from aU assisted the in their visit a

CONCLUSIONS

The Safety and Health Adminisnation (OSHA) may bBvc visited your work site. If not, they may be planning to do SO in the near futurc. In either

OSHA. through its cooperative programs like VPP be an impouant ally rather than an adversary. We at

MERMCI have found that to be true.

MERMCI has the MODtenay Islip, New York facility the VPP application and was proud of their aoceptana: into the progIsm, at "Star" lcvcl, on February 28, 2000. MERMCI is currently providing support, with the and facility review of Montenay York, Pennsylvania and MoDtcDay SERRF in Long Beach, California

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At the closing conference during evaluation week, Mr. Brown the assembled penonnel and spokE of what it laxC$ to become a "Star" work site. The inspirational he conveyed to the Montgomery County team was for a group who bad

so much with limited om"de He~ced,duriogthecowxm~ . ~ Montenay Energy Resources of Mont~mery County, Inc. was for the OSHA Protection Program "STAR" The report of th~ evaluation findings was to Washington D.C. for final appoval by the Assistant Secretary orLabor.

Work sites approved for "STAR" a plaque and flag, which symbolize thc intrinsic value of progtam participation. More imp:luanlly, each and every MERMCI employee has a to their fcUow

to pI'acticc saiCty in of their duties. Our Company is dedicated, first. and foremost; to provide a workplace for our cmployees and visitors, where they and their families know they an: prot.Cded from hann and free from injury. Of all benefits of the VPP, this is the singlc most impoalant benefil Every M f.RMCI cmployee will tc11 you so.

AdditionallYl MBRMCI bas two employees who are ClllJcot membcJ'S of the Region m Vob!CI'ary Protection Program Partioipants' Association and one employee certified as 8 "Special Govesnmcnt to OSHA;

of assisting with on-site aDd re-certifications, working with the OSHA inspec.tion

Given S.2 million work sites that exist in the United States, OSHA recogni2.es 530 as VP'P "Star" sites. This equates to only 1 in every 10, 000 work sites as "Star" recognizOO MERMCI arc proud of the fact that they work at the "ONE" I available

from OSHA to as close as your industrial plOgJamS, meotCJI ing and employee : one of you laCIe today could also be employed at the .

REFERENCES

None

BmLlOGRAPIIY

None

FIGURES I TABLES

None

KEYWORDS

MERMCI- Mootenay Energy Resou.rces of Monlgomery County, Inc.

OSHA - Occupational Safety and Health Mministration

vpp - Voluntary

Safety

Waste-IO-Encrgy

Program

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