The U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York has ordered a Ransomville, N.Y., tool manufacturer and its president to pay two workers a total of $35,800 in back wages and $10,500 in punitive damages for terminating them from their jobs after the men filed a complaint with the OSHA.
The order, signed Feb. 8, by Chief Judge Richard J. Acara, requires defendants V.R.K. Manufacturing and Tools Co. Inc. and company president Roman Klur to make payment within 60 days and permanently prohibits them from violating the anti-retaliation provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
"No worker should be fired, penalized or discriminated against for voicing workplace safety and health concerns," said Patricia K. Clark, OSHA's regional administrator. "This decision reaffirms that basic right as well as the Labor Department's commitment to taking appropriate and aggressive steps to enforce the law. The awarding of punitive damages is significant, since they can help deter future discrimination by this or other employers."
Two employees of V.R.K. Manufacturing and Tools were fired on May 3, 2003, one week after filing a complaint with OSHA about safety and health issues at their workplace. The workers then filed a whistleblower complaint with OSHA, alleging they were discriminated against for exercising the rights granted them under the OSH Act.
OSHA's investigation found merit in the complaint and the agency sought reinstatement, back pay and benefits for the workers. When the employer repeatedly refused to settle the matter, the U.S. Labor Department filed suit in federal court to enforce the findings.
OSHA Proposes $236,000 in Penalties Following Enhanced Enforcement Inspection at Birmingham Foundry
OSHA has cited United States Pipe and Foundry and proposed penalties totaling $236,000 following an August 2005 "enhanced enforcement" inspection conducted at the company's plant in Birmingham.
"Despite OSHA's enforcement and outreach efforts, this company has continued to disregard their basic obligation under the Occupational Safety and Health Act," said Roberto Sanchez, OSHA's Birmingham area director.
OSHA's enhanced enforcement policy focuses on employers who receive "high gravity" citations for violations at the highest level of severity. Under the policy, announced in 2003, OSHA may conduct inspections at employer worksites other than the one where the original high gravity citations were issued and may seek a variety of remedies including federal court enforcement of citations.
Sanchez explained that OSHA cited United States Pipe and Foundry following an investigation of a fatal accident in 2004 at the company's Bessemer facility. A missing safety latch on an overhead crane directly contributed to that accident. During the enhanced enforcement inspection at the Birmingham facility, OSHA found a similar hazard and issued a repeat citation, with a proposed penalty of $25,000, for lack of a safety latch on an overhead crane.
OSHA issued an additional eight repeat citations, with proposed penalties totaling $152,500, for lack of eye wash facilities; unguarded floor openings; confined space and electrical hazards; lack of machinery guards, and improper storage of compressed gas cylinders.
The company, a subsidiary of Walters Industries, also received 19 serious citations, with proposed penalties totaling $58,500, for alleged safety and health hazards that exposed workers to falls, amputations, electrocutions, hearing loss, eye injuries and respiratory illnesses.
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Annual Workplace Safety and Health Day in Peoria Offers a Variety of Employer Guides to Protecting Workers
Making and keeping the workplace healthy and safe is the focus of the 15th annual Downstate Illinois Occupational Safety and Health Day (DIOSHDay), slated for March 1, 2006, at the Peoria Civic Center.
A wealth of information on workplace safety and health issues will be discussed and made available for employers, workers and the general public, according to John Newquist, area director in Peoria for OSHA.
This year's conference highlights safe approaches to some of industry's toughest workplace issues, with presentations on workplace cancer prevention, injury and illness trends, safe work practices in confined spaces, and often-cited OSHA workplace violations.
Breakout sessions on respiratory protection, lock-out/tag-out techniques, forklift safety, the hazards of hot work near petroleum storage tanks, and more will provide ways to prevent tragedy. A mini health fair will offer blood pressure and heart rate screening, glucose levels testing, and other valuable health screening services.
The daylong conference opens for registration at 7:00 a.m. CST and continues with workshops and breakout sessions until 4:00 p.m. It offers safety professionals in downstate Illinois the chance to network with hundreds of their peers and to learn about resources available to businesses and employers.
"The conference provides the best opportunity of the year to get questions answered and issues resolved on the spot," said Newquist. More than 50 exhibitors will join governmental and nonprofit organizations in demonstrating useful and innovative products and services designed to meet workplace safety and health goals.
Exhibit area hours are from 7:00 a.m. until 3:10 p.m. the day of the conference, which is jointly sponsored by the American Society of Safety Engineers Central Illinois Chapter; American Industrial Hygiene Association, Prairie Section; Greater Peoria Contractors and Suppliers Association, Inc.; the Illinois Department of Labor; OSHA's Peoria area office; and the Tri-County Construction Labor-Management Council.
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OSHA Cites Portsmouth, R.I., Contractor for Cave-In and Asbestos Hazards
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A Portsmouth, R.I., contractor faces a total of $42,600 in fines from OSHA for alleged cave-in and asbestos hazards following OSHA inspections at two Portsmouth worksites.
A Nov. 16, 2005, OSHA inspection at 45 Corys Court, found that employees of East Coast Construction had been working in an unprotected trench deeper than five feet that also lacked a safe means of exit. The employees also lacked head protection and were cutting asbestos-containing piping without required safeguards and protective equipment. Another inspection was begun on Dec. 21 at Ferry Landing after an employee was injured in the collapse of an unprotected, seven-foot deep trench.
"Cave-in protection is essential since an excavation's sidewalls can collapse suddenly and with great force, stunning and burying workers beneath tons of soil before they have a chance to react or escape," said Fred Joseph, OSHA's acting area director for Rhode Island. "Hazards of overexposure to asbestos are not as dramatic or as immediate as a cave-in but they, too, carry a very real potential to disable or kill workers.
"Asbestos-related violations found at the Corys Court jobsite included lack of: respiratory protection, employee training, protective clothing, exposure level evaluation, engineering controls to reduce exposure levels, a decontamination area and a regulated area in which to perform asbestos work. In addition, the work was not overseen by a competent person capable of identifying asbestos hazards and selecting appropriate exposure control measures.
As a result, East Coast Construction was issued two repeat citations, with $30,000 in proposed fines, for the unprotected excavations and eight serious citations, with $12,600 in fines, for the asbestos, head protection and means of exit hazards. OSHA had previously cited the company in August 2005 for an unguarded excavation at Freedom Bay in Portsmouth.
A serious citation is issued when death or serious physical harm are likely to result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known. A repeat citation is issued when an employer has previously been cited for a substantially similar hazard and that citation has become final.
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OSHA Cites Alabama Company and Proposes $210,000 in Penalties Following Trenching Fatality
OSHA has issued citations against utility contractor O'CET, and proposed penalties totaling $210,000, following the investigation of a fatal accident last August at a Clay, Ala., construction site.
"When an employer chooses speed and not safety, tragedy follows," said Roberto Sanchez, OSHA's Birmingham area director. "Safe work practices would have prevented this accident.
"OSHA began an inspection at the Steeple Chase subdivision after being notified that an O'CET employee was trapped in a collapsed trench. Rescue attempts failed. Agency investigators determined that employees had been working in an 18-foot-deep trench with excavated soil piled 10 feet high at the edge of the trench walls.
The company received four willful citations, with proposed penalties of $196,000, for allowing workers to ride on an excavator bucket and then jump into trenches; failing to provide employees with adequate means to enter and exit trenches; placing excavated materials within two feet of trench walls; inadequately shoring and sloping trench walls, and failing to conduct daily inspections and remove employees from the site when hazardous conditions were observed.
OSHA also issued four serious citations, with proposed penalties of $14,000, for allowing employees to work under suspended loads of sewer pipes and for failing to train employees and provide them with hard hats, drinking water and bathroom facilities.
A willful citation is issued when an employer has shown an intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and regulations. A serious citation is issued when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard.
OSHA Cites Cambridge-Lee for Safety and Health Hazards
Cambridge-Lee's failure to protect workers from falls and other serious hazards has resulted in $112,000 OSHA penalties. The company was cited by the agency for one alleged repeat violation, with a penalty of $25,000, for two separate fall hazards caused by the absence or inadequacy of guardrails. Repeat violations are those for which an employer has been previously cited for the same or substantially similar condition and the citation has become a final order of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Fifteen serious violations, with a penalty of $87,000, address hazards associated with machine guarding, powered industrial trucks, cranes, welding cables, lockout/tagout procedures and electricity. Serious violations are defined as those where the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard that could cause death or serious injury.
"Employers must take the necessary precautions to protect employees from workplace hazards," said Bob Fink, area director of the Harrisburg OSHA office. "This significant penalty demonstrates OSHA's commitment to assure compliance with job safety and health standards.
"Cambridge-Lee manufactures copper tubing and employs 500 workers at three productions plants involved in this inspection.
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OSHA Proposes Additional $194,250 in Penalties against Ohio Trenching Company; Additional Penalties Bring Total Since January to $344,750
OSHA has proposed an additional $194,250 in fines against Sunesis Construction Company, West Chester, Ohio, for eight alleged serious violations and three alleged willful violations of federal workplace safety and health standards following inspections at three trenching sites opened between August and October 2005.
The Labor Department's action marks the second time in two months that OSHA has announced proposed penalties against Sunesis, the first coming in early January when OSHA proposed $150,500 in penalties following a fatality investigation that found improperly installed trench box shielding systems and other violations.
Thisáannouncement completes inspection activity in three separate trenching investigations following the company's first fatality in July. All investigations were related to OSHA's trenching and excavation national emphasis program and each inspection found workers inadequately protected against potential cave-ins. An August 2005 inspection found that a worker was exposed to the hazard while sand was being compacted in a trench that exceeded five feet in depth. One serious citation with a $3,500 proposed penalty was issued in that case, and the violation was immediately corrected at the worksite.
A September 2005 inspection revealed two serious violations with $7,000 in proposed penalties because employees were exposed to the possible collapse of undermined asphalt, and that excavated materials were located on the edge of the trench. Two willful violations were issued with proposed penalties totaling $112,000 as a result of employees working in trenches that were not protected against cave-in, or were working in an improperly installed trench box that did not provide adequate protection against the possibility of a fatal incident.
The October inspection resulted from a fatal accident investigation where a 5 ton steel plate fell on an employee. Five serious violations with penalties totaling $15,750 were issued relating to the rigging equipment and one willful violation with a penalty of $56,000 was issued for inadequate protection from trench collapse.
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Chicago Furniture Builder Fined $218,200 for Repeat Violations
OSHA has proposed $218,200 in fines against steel frame furniture manufacturer Dehler Manufacturing Co. Inc. following an inspection at the company's Chicago facility.
OSHA opened a follow-up inspection at Dehler after the company failed to show it had corrected safety violations involving power press brakes and mechanical power presses identified in a February 2005 inspection.
The most recent inspection, opened August 2005, found continuing problems with power presses and resulted in one serious, three willful and five repeat citations for violation of safety and health standards. Alleged serious and willful violations involved lack of guarding on mechanical power presses and power press brakes to prevent employees from exposure to amputations or crushing; failing to conduct safety inspections on the machines, and not incorporating the correct type of drive motor starter in mechanical power press controls.
Repeat violations, based on several earlier citations issued to the company, involved inadequate employee training; failure to develop and utilize hazardous energy isolation procedures for mechanical power presses; lack of periodic inspection of resistance welders, and other issues threatening the safety of workers operating mechanical power presses.
"Any one of these violations has the potential to cause serious harm, even death, to workers," said OSHA Area Director Diane Turek, Des Plaines, Ill. "Amputations, crushed hands and fingers, are far too often the tragic consequence of operating mechanical power presses when employers shirk their responsibility to keep the workplace safe."
OSHA has conducted five inspections at Dehler over the past five years, issuing citations for violations of workplace safety and health regulations in each case.áá
NIOSH, AAOHN Will Partner on Research and Outreach Efforts to Prevent Occupational Injuries and Illnesses
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The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, Inc. (AAOHN) will partner in research and outreach activities to prevent occupational injuries and illnesses, under an agreement signed on Jan. 27, 2006.
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Partnership initiatives defined under the agreement, which was signed by NIOSH Director John Howard and AAOHN President Susan A. Randolph, include:
- Identifying priority research needs in the occupational and environmental health nursing community, and the workplaces and communities they address.
- Translating relevant research findings into effective products that address worker safety and health needs, and disseminating the products to partner organizations that can put them into practice.
- Developing and disseminating information at appropriate conferences, and communicating information through diverse communications media.
- Sharing injury statistics information to identify research and intervention needs.
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"Throughout the years AAOHN and NIOSH have collaborated to accomplish the goals of both organizations, and we are very pleased to announce this formal partnership," Ms. Randolph said. "We are committed to working together with NIOSH on research and outreach efforts that promote safe and healthful work environments and prevent worker injury and illness."
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"AAOHN is a valued partner representing a community of stakeholders who are on the front lines of occupational safety and health every day," Dr. Howard said.á"Through this agreement, we look forward to furthering our teamwork under the National Occupational Research Agenda, the WorkLife Initiative, and many other avenues of collaboration."
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NIOSH and AAOHN pledge under the agreement to meet periodically to share information, reassess and modify partnership activities, and evaluate results.á The agreement remains in effect until October 2008 and can be extended.
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NIOSH is the federal agency that conducts research and makes recommendations for safe, healthy, and secure workplaces.á It is part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Established in 1942, AAOHN is a 10,000 member professional association dedicated to advancing the health, safety and productivity of domestic and global workforces by providing education, research, public policy and practice resources for occupational and environmental health nurses. These professionals are the largest group of health care providers serving the worksite
