Court Ruling Calls Proposition 65 Carcinogens to Question

 The court held that the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) may not list a chemical as causing cancer under Proposition 652 pursuant to the Labor Code mechanism set out in Health and Safety Code section 25249.8(a), referencing Labor Code section 6382(d), solely on the basis of its identification by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as being possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B), where that determination is based on less than sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in humans and animals. 

The four chemicals on the Proposition 65 list are actinomycin D, chloramphenicol, dienestrol, and phenacetin. Since these four chemicals were identified by IARC as “Group 2B” chemicals with less than sufficient animal and human evidence at the time they were listed, OEHHA is required to review the basis for listing these chemicals. 

See California Regulatory Notice Register No. 24-Z, page 924.

OEHHA announced that it will take the following actions on these chemicals based on the court’s decision.

CHEMICALS CURRENTLY ON THE PROPOSITION 65 LIST

CHEMICALS PREVIOUSLY PROPOSED FOR LISTING

Raleigh RCRA and DOT Training

Indianapolis RCRA, DOT, and IATA Training

Atlanta RCRA, DOT, and SARA Training

OSHA Cites Two Wisconsin Companies Following Worker’s Death

OSHA has cited Lunda Construction, Inc., in Black River Falls and Choice Construction Cos., Inc., in Menomonee Falls with a total of 10 safety citations after a truck driver was killed and another worker seriously injured.

The July 5 incident occurred when a crane collapsed at a bridge construction site on US Route 41 over Lake Butte des Morts near Oshkosh. A truck driver, employed by Spancrete, died when he was struck by the boom of a crane that overturned while bridge girders were being erected with a multiple crane lift. Spancrete was not cited as a result of the investigation.

A Lunda Construction employee who was operating the crane was seriously injured when he was thrown from the cab as the crane fell. Lunda Construction is being cited for one willful and five serious violations. The willful violation is for failing to comply with crane operator standards by designating a lift director and conducting multiple crane-lift planning meetings. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowledge or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.

The five serious Lunda Construction violations include allowing a crane to travel with a suspended load; failing to train competent and qualified persons on their respective roles; adequately attach the crane to the barge; use appropriate signaling methods suitable for the site conditions; and meet the requirements of the critical lift plan. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

Choice Construction was contracted by Lunda Construction to provide manpower for erecting the girders and is being cited with four serious violations for failing to develop an effective safety program, conduct competent and qualified person training, and comply with the provisions of the crane operating standards, including designating a competent lift director and conducting a multiple crane-lift planning meeting.

This was the third OSHA inspection for Choice Construction, which was previously cited with two other-than-serious violations.

“Employers have a responsibility to take all necessary steps to eliminate hazards from the workplace and to ensure that workers are given the proper training to conduct required tasks, such as operating cranes and performing multiple crane lifts,” said Nick Walters, OSHA’s regional administrator in Chicago. “It is tragic that one employee lost his life and another was seriously injured during this construction project.”

Lunda Construction was previously cited in October for three serious violations after a worker, who was struck by a section of crane he was assembling at a construction site on Highway 41 near De Pere, was killed. The company has contested those citations. Lunda Construction has been previously inspected by OSHA five times since 2009, resulting in the issuance of five violations.

OSHA has placed Lunda Construction in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which focuses on recalcitrant employers who endanger workers by committing willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations. Under the program, OSHA may inspect any of the employer’s facilities or job sites. 

Proposed penalties for Lunda Construction total $105,000, and total $13,220 for Choice Construction.

Stucco Contractor Cited for Repeat Fall Hazards

OSHA has cited Beno Stucco Systems of Rochelle Park, New Jersey, with six safety violations—including five repeat—involving fall and scaffolding hazards while employees were applying stucco to a commercial building in Westwood, New Jersey.

OSHA’s June investigation was initiated as a result of an imminent danger fall hazard. Proposed penalties total $61,600.

The repeat violations, with $58,520 as the proposed penalty, were cited for exposing workers to fall and scaffolding hazards, and for failing to provide workers with protective helmets to prevent injuries from falling objects. A repeat violation is issued when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. Similar violations were cited in 2007, 2009, and 2011.

One serious violation, with a $3,080 proposed penalty, was cited for failing to have a competent person inspect scaffolds and scaffold components for visible defects before each work shift and after any occurrence that could affect a scaffold’s structural integrity. Additionally, the company did not conduct an inspection of the job site, materials and scaffold components, to prevent employees from working without full planking, fall protection and scaffold access.

“This company repeatedly neglected to implement basic, common-sense and legally-required safeguards to ensure that scaffolds were erected properly and fall protection was provided for employees working at heights of 10 feet or more,” said Lisa Levy, director of OSHA’s area office in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey. “OSHA will not tolerate employers jeopardizing the safety and health of workers.”

OSHA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health are working with trade associations, labor unions, employers, universities, community and faith-based organizations and consulates to provide employers and workers–especially vulnerable, low-literacy workers–with education and training on common-sense fall prevention equipment and strategies that save lives. 

OSHA Fines Bender Enterprises Inc. $41,580 for Repeat Electrical Hazards

OSHA has cited Bender Enterprises, Inc., based in Union, New Jersey, with three repeat violations for continuing to expose workers to electrical hazards at a Fort Lee work site. OSHA’s June investigation was initiated following a referral from the Fort Lee Police Department when a worker was injured while servicing an electrical panel. Proposed penalties total $41,580.

The repeat violations include failing to protect workers from contact with live electrical parts, provide eye and face protection from electric arcs, flashes or flying objects, and provide insulated tools and equipment for workers exposed to energized conductors or circuit parts. Similar violations were cited at the Upper Saddle River work site in 2008.

“By failing to address these hazards, Bender Enterprises continues to unnecessarily put its workers in harm’s way,” said Lisa Levy, director of OSHA’s Hasbrouck Heights Area Office. “Employers will be held legally responsible for jeopardizing the safety and health of workers.”

OSHA Cites Rosina Food Products Inc. for Serious Hazards at New York Plant

OSHA has cited Rosina Food Products, Inc., with nine serious violations of workplace safety standards at its West Seneca, New York, production facility. The manufacturer of frozen food products faces a proposed penalty of $54,750.

The inspection, which began in September, identified several deficiencies in the plant’s process safety management program, a detailed set of requirements and procedures employers must follow to proactively address hazards associated with processes and equipment involving large amounts of hazardous chemicals. In this case, the process is the operation and maintenance of the plant’s refrigeration system and the chemical is anhydrous ammonia, used in the refrigeration system.

“The stringent and comprehensive requirements of OSHA’s process safety management standard are designed to prevent catastrophic incidents, such as the uncontrolled release of highly hazardous chemicals, including ammonia,” said Arthur Dube, OSHA’s area director for western New York. “This requires full, effective, and proactive adherence to the standard’s requirements by the employer.”

In this case, OSHA’s Buffalo Area Office found that the plant lacked effective standard operating procedures for all emergency shutdown procedures of the refrigeration system, necessary corrective actions identified during hazard analyses of the refrigeration process, clear instructions for safely conducting refrigeration procedures, written procedures to maintain the ongoing mechanical integrity of all equipment used in the refrigeration process, and procedures for handling small releases of anhydrous ammonia. In addition, the inspection found that all required safety testing was not performed. The plant did not develop specific procedures for locking out machines to prevent their unintended startup during servicing, did not inspect such procedures, and did not use group lockout/tagout procedures as required.

“One method of enhancing workers’ safety is developing and maintaining an effective illness and injury prevention program in which management and employees work together to identify and prevent hazardous conditions,” said Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York.

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