U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Https

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock () or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Coal Plant Industrial Hygiene

Report Information

Date Issued
Report Number
2020-15754
Report Type
Inspection / Evaluation
Description
The Office of the Inspector General found the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) industrial hygiene planning and assessment process had weaknesses that resulted in some hazards not being identified and evaluated. Specifically, we identified the following industrial hygiene process weaknesses: (1) TVA relied on limited information to identify health hazards; (2) there was no formal evaluation of the risks posed by hazards identified; (3) industrial hygiene plans did not prioritize hazards for control; and (4) incomplete monitoring efforts, which allowed for misalignment between plans and exposure assessments as well as limited coverage for retiring plants. We also found TVA did not take appropriate actions to address some adverse conditions identified during assessments. We determined actions were not taken to address four occurrences of elevated silica. We also determined some employees were not notified of hazard exposures or actions taken to address their exposures, as required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. In addition, we identified opportunities for improvement related to handling of industrial hygiene issues in the contractor population.
Joint Report
Yes
Participating OIG
Tennessee Valley Authority OIG
Agency Wide
Yes (agency-wide)
Questioned Costs
$0
Funds for Better Use
$0
View report on Oversight.gov

Recommendations

We recommend the Senior Vice President, Power Operations, in coordination with the Director, Safety, assess work activities that can produce silica hazards at each of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s coal plants to identify any that would result in exposures above the action level and take appropriate actions to protect employees exposed.

We recommend the Director, Safety, align the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Safety Procedure 18.900, Implement Industrial Hygiene Activities, and/or the appropriate hazard specific procedures with regulatory language to address written notice to employees of actions taken to address exposures.

We recommend the Senior Vice President, Power Operations, in coordination with Director, Safety, develop a plan for monitoring and controlling significant health hazards at retiring plants.

We recommend the Director, Safety, evaluate the broad job responsibilities and duties of industrial hygiene and determine if staffing levels are appropriate to ensure proper coverage and effective implementation of needed program changes.

We recommend the Director, Safety, periodically monitor the effectiveness of the industrial hygiene program to include the alignment of hazards and exposure assessments.