Chicago Workers' Compensation Attorney Blog

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched an investigation after an accident last year at the Honeywell International plant in Metropolis, Illinois that may cost the company $119,000 in proposed fines.

Our Chicago workers' compensation lawyers are aware of the release of hydrogen fluoride vapor from the Honeywell processing plant. This could have been a catastrophic event for the workers of the plant.

OSHA issued 17 serious safety violations to the company for process safety management violations following the December 2010 release of hydrogen fluoride vapor at its Metropolis processing plant. The company's internal response team prevented this from becoming a huge disaster that resulted in no injuries.

"Honeywell International has a responsibility to properly train its employees, and to strictly adhere to safety procedures and processes in all facilities," said Tom Bielema, OSHA's area director in Peoria. "OSHA is committed to ensuring that all workers are provided a safe and healthful workplace."

Honeywell International employs about 560 workers at the Metropolis facility that processes raw/mine-extracted uranium into uranium hexafluoride. Nuclear power generation processes uses the uranium hexafluoride. The following are the serious violations from hazards that could have caused death or serious physical harm to workers that Honeywell International knew or should have known about.

-Permitting cylinders to be exposed to physical damage.
-Field verifications were inaccurate on tanks and valves.
-Using non-compliant equipment.
-Not having clear written operating instructions regarding unloading processes of hydrogen fluoride into storage tanks and switching storage tanks.
-Failing to deal with the human factors regarding remote operating valves on the hydrogen fluoride storage tanks.
-Lacking to resolve and document issues addressed by the process hazard analysis team.
-Failing to establish written protocols to maintain the integrity of process equipment.
-Failing to apply written emergency operating protocols for emptying hydrogen fluoride tanks.
-Failing to execute appropriate inspections and checks to make sure equipment was properly installed.
-Failing to implement and establish written protocols to manage changes to process chemicals, procedures and equipment.

Honeywell International was also cited for a poor incident report that didn't include factors causing the vapor release and the suggestions resulting from the internal investigation.

Serious lung damage can result from inhaling hydrogen fluoride vapors. Fatal pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs) can be a delayed reaction not apparent for hours after the initial exposure. OSHA limits airborne concentrations of hydrogen fluoride to workers to an average of 3 parts per million over an 8-hour work day. Irritation to the eyes, skin, and respiratory tract can occur with airborne concentrations of 10 to 15 parts per million.

Concentrations of 30 parts per million is extremely dangerous to life and health and could have irreversible health effects. A brief exposure to airborne concentrations above 50 parts per million is usually fatal.