"When employees are disciplined for reporting workplace injuries, safety concerns or illnesses, worker safety and health are clearly not the company's priority," said Nick Walters, OSHA's regional administrator in Chicago. "More than 60 percent of the FRSA complaints filed with OSHA against railroad companies involve an allegation that a railroad worker has been retaliated against for reporting an on-the-job injury. This is unacceptable and a culture that must be changed."
The department has ordered the companies to pay back wages, along with interest, punitive and compensatory damages, and attorney's fees.
OSHA has ordered Grand Trunk Western Railway Co., a subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway, to pay four workers a total of $85,580.
A building and bridge carpenter will receive $29,671 in lost wages, less employment taxes, $2,119 in lost vacation pay and $10,000 in punitive and compensatory damages. OSHA's investigation upheld his allegations that he was suspended for 20 days after reporting a workplace injury that occurred in South Bend, Ind., in December 2011.
A conductor will receive $29,671 in lost wages, less employment taxes, $2,119 in lost vacation pay and $10,000 in punitive and compensatory damages. He received a 60-day suspension from work after reporting a workplace injury that occurred in Lansing, Michigan, in November 2011.
Another conductor working in Pontiac, Michigan, can expect $1,500 in punitive and compensatory damages and no loss of wages after the employee was issued a 45-day suspension, which has not been served, for taking unauthorized leave in June and July 2012 for ongoing medical treatment. OSHA's finding upheld that the medical treatment should have been an excused absence. Additionally, a conductor working in Battle Creek, Michigan, will receive $500 in punitive damages and one day's lost wages after he was issued a one-day suspension for reporting a workplace injury in February 2013.
Union Pacific Railroad Co. has been ordered to pay a brakeman $1,289.68 in lost wages, less employment taxes, and $10,000 in punitive and compensatory damages, along with interest and attorney's fees. OSHA's investigation upheld the brakeman's allegation that the railway issued him a one-day suspension and required him to attend remedial simulator training after he was injured by battery acid fumes when investigating a possible fire in the engine room of a train in the Dupo Illinois Yard.
Either party in these cases can file an appeal with the department's Office of Administrative Law Judges.
OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the FRSA and 21 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health care reform, nuclear, pipeline, worker safety, public transportation agency, maritime, and securities laws.
Employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or to the government.
EPA’s New Solvent Wipe, Shop Towel Rule Demystified
- Does the rule apply to both cloth and paper wipes and rags?
- What solvents can be on the towels, and which are prohibited?
- Does the rule also apply to towels that contain characteristic hazardous waste?
- Can P or U-listed wastes be on the towels?
- How must the towels be stored on-site?
- Do they need to be tested for anything?
- How long can they be stored?
- How must the containers be marked or labeled?
- How must they be prepared for transportation?
- Where can you ship them and what are the disposal and recycling options?
- What are the documentation requirements?
- How is the new rule impacted by current state regulations?
Did You Miss OSHA’s December 1 GHS Hazard Communication Training Deadline? Use Environmental Resource Center’s GHS OSHA Hazard Communication Training PowerPoint
With OSHA’s adoption of the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for the classification and labeling of hazardous chemicals, virtually every chemical label, MSDS—now called Safety Data Sheet (SDS), and written hazard communication plan must be revised to meet the new standard.
OSHA’s December 1, 2013, deadline under the revised Hazard Communication Standard required that all employees at your site who work with, or are exposed to, hazardous chemicals be trained to understand the new classification system, labels, warning statements, precautions, pictograms, and safety data sheets for chemicals at your worksite.
Environmental Resource Center is making available a PDF presentation or a customizable PowerPoint that you can use for on-site worker training. The training program, which is designed to cover your site’s GHS Hazard Communication training requirements, is in a format that is easy to understand.
Price and options:
Multiple PDF copies can be purchased for $99/copy (1–10), $79/copy (11–20), or $69/copy (21+).
Multiple PowerPoint copies can be purchased for $199/copy (1–10), $179/copy (11–20), or $169/copy (21+).
Options*:
1. Customized PowerPoint: Send us your written GHS hazard communication plan and 10–20 safety data sheets. We’ll create a custom training program for your site: $899
2. If you have not updated your hazard communication plan, let Environmental Resource Center update it for you: $799
3. Customized PowerPoint and hazard communication plan: $1600
*Call 800-537-2372 for Spanish pricing
How to Implement OSHA’s Globally Harmonized Hazard Communication Standard (GHS)
OSHA has issued a final rule revising its Hazard Communication Standard, aligning it with the United Nations’ globally harmonized system (GHS) for the classification and labeling of hazardous chemicals. This means that virtually every product label, safety data sheet (formerly called “material safety data sheet” or MSDS), and written hazard communication plan must be revised to meet the new standard. Worker training must be updated so that workers can recognize and understand the symbols and pictograms on the new labels as well as the new hazard statements and precautions on safety data sheets.
San Antonio RCRA and DOT Training
Jacksonville RCRA and DOT Training
New Orleans RCRA and DOT Training
OSHA Extends Comment Period on Agency Standards to Improve Chemical Safety
In response to requests for an extension, the deadline to submit written comments is being extended from March 10 to March 31 to allow stakeholders additional time to comment on the proposed rule and supporting analyses.
The RFI also seeks information and data on specific rulemaking and policy options, and the workplace hazards they address. OSHA will use the information received in response to this RFI to determine what actions, if any, it may take.
Pressed Paperboard Technologies will Pay $81,450 in Penalties for Safety Violations
Pressed Paperboard Technologies, LLC, has been cited by OSHA for nine safety and health violations at the company's Findlay facility.
The company has entered into a settlement agreement to resolve the citations that includes providing enhancements to their safety and health program to further protect employees. The company will pay penalties of $81,450.
"Pressed Paperboard Technologies has a responsibility to protect workers from electrical hazards at work," said Kim Nelson, OSHA's area director in Toledo. "These hazards expose workers to the dangers of arc flash, electric shock and electrocution.
A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirement, or plain indifference to employee safety and health.
Five serious safety violations include failing to develop machine-specific procedures to prevent accidental startup or movement of machine parts that can cause injury; not training workers in lockout/tagout procedures when conducting maintenance on machinery; failing to disconnect electrical panels from all energy sources prior to conducting maintenance work; inadequate machine guarding on milling machines; and failing to test electrical personal protective equipment every six months.
Two serious health violations involve exposing workers to explosion and fire hazards while working near an indoor dust collector that lacked a means of explosion protection, and failing to establish and implement a written respiratory protection program. 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.
Coastal Building Systems of Amelia Inc. Cited for Repeat Fall Hazards
Coastal Building Systems of Amelia, Inc., in Fernandina Beach, has been cited by OSHA for two repeat violations following a September 2013 inspection. OSHA found employees working on a residential roof without fall protection. Proposed penalties total $55,000.
"This employer has been previously cited for failing to provide fall and eye protection and continues to expose workers to serious injury or death," said Brian Sturtecky, OSHA's area director in Jacksonville. "Falls remain among the deadliest hazards in the construction industry. The safety and well-being of employees depends on effective fall protection on all job sites."
The repeat violations, carrying penalties of $55,000, are associated with inspections in 2010, 2011, and 2012. The company was cited during this inspection for failure to provide a fall protection system for employees working at heights greater than 6 feet and not providing eye protection for employees. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.
The other-than-serious violation was cited for not having first aid supplies or a kit to protect workers from infections and injuries. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.
It was developed in partnership with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and NIOSH's National Occupational Research Agenda program. In 2012, there were 269 fall-related fatalities out of the 775 construction-related fatalities.
OSHA Cites Inferno Wood Pellet Inc. for Combustible Wood Dust and other Hazards
The ignition of wood dust in the plant's production room migrated to a retention bin, resulting in an explosion that spread through the building.
"While no one was killed, the potential for death and serious injury was real, present, and preventable. The lack of safeguards allowed the initial fire and explosion to occur and spread in a chain reaction to other equipment and through the plant," said Patrick Griffin, OSHA's area director for Rhode Island. "If this employer had adhered to applicable OSHA and National Fire Protection Association standards, that would have helped prevent the fire and explosion from occurring and spreading."
An investigation by the Providence Area Office of OSHA found that employees at the plant were exposed to wood dust explosions, deflagrations, or rapid combustion, and other fire hazards due to inadequate or absent preventive and protective measures in the wood pellet processing system and its equipment.
Specifically, OSHA found that the retention bin lacked spark detection, explosion suppression, fire/explosion isolation and explosion venting devices; conveyor systems carrying combustible wood products lacked spark detection, fire suppression and/or fire isolation devices; dust collection systems and dust segregation barriers were not maintained to minimize fire sources; and an opening in the fire wall between the plant's production room and chip room allowed a fireball to enter the chip room and spread the fire.
Other hazards included an incomplete respiratory protection program; lack of noise monitoring; inadequate chemical hazard communication and training; excess amounts of liquefied petroleum gas stored in the building; an untrained forklift operator; and lack of procedures and training to ensure that all equipment was properly deenergized to prevent unintended activation.
Because of these and other hazards, OSHA has cited Inferno for 11 serious violations of workplace safety standards and has proposed $43,400 in fines.
"Combustible wood dust is a byproduct of the manufacturing process, and it is the employer's responsibility to ensure that proper and effective safeguards are in place and in use at all times, so that incidents like this fire and explosion do not occur," said Griffin.
OSHA Cites Werner Construction after Worker Fatally Struck by Front-End Loader
Werner Construction, Inc., has been cited for three safety violations by OSHA after a maintenance worker was fatally injured after being struck by a front-end loader. The worker became pinned between the loader and a semitrailer. The 35-year-old full-time employee died of his injuries on September 14, 2013. OSHA has proposed fines of $14,000.
"Struck-by hazards continue to be one of the leading causes of injury to workers. OSHA has investigated 37 cases in the past six years in which a worker was fatally injured from a struck-by vehicle incident in the Kansas City Region alone," said Marcia P. Drumm, OSHA's acting regional administrator in Kansas City. "Employers must train their workers to identify the potential for such hazards and take necessary precautions to prevent them."
Werner Construction was issued two serious citations involving operating the front end loader which had not received required servicing of safety features and failing to have someone adequately trained to administer first aid when medical treatment was not near the workplace.
The other-than-serious citation involved failing to conduct a workplace hazard assessment for personal protective equipment.
In addition, OSHA has issued Werner Construction a hazard-alert letter because workers were exposed to being crushed when working around the front-end loader which was being used to hold heavy materials in place. This letter is used to alert employers of potential hazard exposure and provide recommendations to protect the workers.
Hastings, Nebraska-based Werner Construction, Inc., was last investigated by OSHA in 2009 after a worker was fatally injured while operating a paving machine.
Struck-by injuries and fatalities are caused by conventional traffic/passenger vehicles, forklifts and other moving, powered industrial equipment, such as cranes and yard trucks. Because of this, OSHA is continuing its regional outreach initiative in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska to educate workers and their employers about preventing such accidents.
Causes of struck-by accidents typically involve reverse vehicle movement into a pedestrian outside the driver's field of vision, or vehicles falling off ramps, inclines, or unstable ground.
To help prevent struck-by hazards and fatalities, OSHA's educational materials called Evaluate Your Entire Surroundings, or E.Y.E.S., are available in both English and Spanish.
Electronic copies of materials regarding this initiative, as well as limited printed copies, can be obtained for free by contacting OSHA's offices in St. Louis at 314-425-4249; Wichita, Kansas, at 316-269-6644; Kansas City, Missouri, at 816-483-9531; Omaha at 402-553-0171; or Des Moines, Iowa, at 515-284-4794. Please speak with the duty officer to order these materials.
To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Omaha Area Office at 402-553-0171.
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