OSHA is launching an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) pilot program for complaints filed with OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program. ADR can assist complainants and employers in resolving their disputes in a cooperative and voluntary manner.
The program will be implemented in two OSHA regions and offer two voluntary methods of ADR: early resolution and mediation. When a whistleblower complaint is filed with OSHA in one of the pilot regions, the parties will be notified of their ADR options and may work through an OSHA regional ADR coordinator to use these methods.
“OSHA is committed to fair, effective, and timely enforcement of the whistleblower laws delegated to us by Congress,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “Alternative dispute resolution can provide immediate relief and finality to both parties.”
The two OSHA regions that will participate in the pilot are headquartered in Chicago and San Francisco. The Chicago Regional Office is responsible for whistleblower investigations filed with federal OSHA in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ohio. The San Francisco Regional Office is responsible for whistleblower investigations filed with federal OSHA in Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada, as well as various Pacific Islands including the commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Samoa.
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MSHA Unveils New Machine Guarding Compliance Assistance Resource
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has introduced a new compliance assistance resource to address one of the most commonly cited violations in the metal and nonmetal mining industry: improperly guarded machinery. “Guarding Machinery at Metal & Nonmetal Mines” is a sequel to a compliance guide for guarding conveyor belts published in 2010. In that year, guarding-related violations peaked at 10,877 and accounted for one of every seven violations cited.
"The purpose of this new guide designed to improve mine safety is threefold: to improve the mining industry's understanding of good guarding principles; ensure the construction, installation, and maintenance of high-quality, effective guards; and improve compliance, inspection, and enforcement consistency," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health Joseph A. Main.
According to Parts 56/57.14107 of 30 Code of Federal Regulations, moving machine parts must be guarded to protect individuals from contacting gears; sprockets; chains; drive, head, tail, and take-up pulleys; flywheels; couplings; shafts; fan blades; and similar moving parts that can cause injury. Guards are not required when the exposed moving parts are at least seven feet away from walking or working surfaces.
Injuries related to equipment guarding typically occur because guards are missing, inadequately sized or positioned, and also may be due to miners handling or dropping heavy, unwieldy, and other poorly designed, constructed, or maintained guards. For example, in some cases, lacerations or other injuries may occur due to a guard's construction.
The new guide has been widely reviewed by industry stakeholders, MSHA inspectors and MSHA supervisors. It provides examples of good guarding practice and compliance information relating to all types of mining equipment, including drive and power transmission components; crushers and screens; rotating, packaging, and palletizing equipment; power tools and auxiliary equipment.
The conveyor belt guarding guide was well received by the mining industry and has resulted in increased compliance and more consistent enforcement. Guarding-related citations and orders issued through the third quarter of fiscal year 2012 are down 39% from 2010 levels. Both guides have the same format: a photo-illustrated PowerPoint presentation with detailed explanatory notes.
"Both are valuable guarding compliance resources for miners, mine operators, miners' representatives, independent contractors, equipment manufacturers and MSHA enforcement personnel," said Main.
The most recent mining fatality that involved improper guarding practices occurred in August 2011 at 4 J's Gravel Crushing Plant 2 in Renville County, Minnesota. A 24-year-old equipment operator was killed when he became entangled in a feed belt conveyor's head pulley components. MSHA determined that mine management failed to ensure that moving machine parts were guarded to protect miners from coming into contact with them.
OSHA Cites Oil and Gas Servicing Company Following Fatality at Work Site
OSHA initiated an inspection in April in response to a report of a fatality involving an employee who came into contact with energized electrical parts and was electrocuted while working to restore power to a pumping station.
The willful violations include failing to provide training on safe work practices and to provide electrical protective equipment, such as gloves, for employees performing maintenance work. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.
The serious violations include failing to provide specific lockout/tagout procedures and ensure that the energy sources of electrical equipment are locked out prior to performing maintenance, test electrical personal protective equipment, and ensure that only qualified personnel perform testing and maintenance on electrical equipment. 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.
Proposed penalties total $189,000. Halcon Resources is a Houston-based oil and gas servicing company that employs 300 workers nationwide.
OSHA Cites ThyssenKrupp Airport Systems for Multiple Safety Hazards
OSHA initiated an inspection of the facility under the agency’s National Emphasis Program on Amputations and its Regional Emphasis Program on Safety and Health Hazards in the Manufacture of Fabricated Metal Products. The violations involve failing to regularly inspect overhead cranes, hooks, and slings; rate or inspect devices used for lifting; provide machine guarding for a press brake and belt sander; ensure that exits are not blocked and are properly marked; provide fall protection such as harnesses and guardrails; train workers on lockout/tagout procedures for the control of energy sources; and provide strain relief for flexible electrical cords.
ThyssenKrupp Airport Systems, a subsidiary of Chicago-based ThyssenKrupp USA Inc., employs about 180 workers in Fort Worth.
Brocato Construction of Cited for Willful, Serious Trenching Violations
OSHA opened its inspection as part of the agency’s national emphasis program to reduce injuries at trenching and excavation construction sites. Proposed penalties total $117,600.
The willful violations involve failing to provide workers with protection against cave-in hazards while they were working in one trench more than five feet deep and another trench that was eight feet deep.
The serious violation involves exposing employees to struck-by and cave-in hazards by not providing a ladder to enter and exit the excavation.
Brocato Construction was contracted by the city of Olive Branch to relocate utilities, including gas and water lines.
OSHA cites manager of Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum for Asbestos and Other Hazards
OSHA has cited SMG @ Nassau Coliseum LLC, doing business as SMG, with 16 alleged serious violations of workplace health and safety standards.
OSHA opened an inspection in response to an employee complaint. Investigators found that maintenance workers and electricians were exposed to asbestos or materials potentially containing asbestos while working in various locations—including the coliseum’s ice plant, catwalks, and a loading dock—and that SMG did not take adequate steps to address the hazards. These conditions occurred in areas not accessible to the general public.
Specifically, SMG did not identify the presence, location, and quantity of materials containing or potentially containing asbestos, use engineering controls and work practices to reduce exposure levels, ensure that all Class III asbestos work (such as repair and maintenance operations where materials presumed to contain asbestos are disturbed) was conducted in regulated areas, ensure proper respirator use, post warning signs, and provide asbestos awareness training for workers.
In addition, OSHA found inadequately lighted exit routes, inoperable emergency lighting, lights not guarded against damage, defective forklifts, unsecured liquefied petroleum gas containers, electrical circuits not locked out, and unguarded open-sided floors. The company also failed to provide workers with bloodborne pathogen and chemical hazard communication training. Finally, the company failed to develop procedures and provide hardware to lock out power sources to prevent the unintended activation of machinery.
Asbestos is the name given to a group of naturally occurring minerals that are resistant to heat and corrosion. Asbestos has been used as insulation for pipes, floor tiles, and building materials, and in-vehicle brakes, and clutches. Breathing asbestos fibers can cause a buildup of scar-like tissue in the lungs called asbestosis, which can result in a loss of lung function that often progresses to disability or death. Asbestos also causes lung cancer and other diseases such as mesothelioma of the pleura, which is a fatal malignant tumor of the membrane that lines the cavity of the lung or stomach.
OSHA Cites Hoist Liftruck for 25 Safety and Health Violations
OSHA has cited Hoist Liftruck Manufacturing Inc., in Bedford Park, Illinois, with 25 safety and health—including four repeat—violations. A safety inspection was opened in April and a health inspection was opened in May under OSHA’s Site-Specific Targeting Program, which directs enforcement resources to workplaces with high injury and illness rates. Proposed fines total $82,170.
The repeat violations involve failing to implement a hearing conservation program, provide welding curtains, and conduct fit testing and medical evaluations for workers required to wear respirators. 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 other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. Similar violations were cited in 2007.
Eighteen serious safety violations involve failing to develop and implement a confined space program, train forklift drivers and evaluate them every three years, properly store flammable containers, provide personal protective equipment and adequately train workers on hazard communication.
Three other-than-serious violations involve failing to inspect forklifts prior to use, repair damaged floors and provide employees with information on OSHA's respirator standard. 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.
Hoist Liftruck, which manufactures and markets forklifts and similar vehicles, employs about 150 workers at its Bedford Park facility.
Cleveland Tank & Supply Cited for Exposing Workers to Chromium, Other Hazards
OSHA has cited Cleveland Tank & Supply Inc., of Cleveland, Ohio, with 19 serious health and safety violations—including failing to assess and monitor exposure to hexavalent chromium, and provide adequate personal protective equipment. As a result of an April inspection based on a complaint, OSHA has proposed total fines of $72,800.
Fifteen health violations include failing to assess workers’ exposure to hexavalent chromium and ensure exposures were below the permissible limit. Exposure to chromium—which is commonly found in dyes, paints, plastic, and coating materials—can result in irritation to airways, nasal passages, skin, and eyes.
Other health violations involve failing to implement a hearing conservation program, provide an emergency eye wash station, inspect and train employees to use fire extinguishers, provide hazard communication training, securely mount a liquefied petroleum cylinder, provide training to powered industrial operators, and properly guard bench grinders. Violations relating to personal protective equipment standards have been cited for not documenting equipment assessment, providing and training workers to use such equipment, ensuring its quality, or providing it at no cost to workers.
Additionally, four safety violations involve failing to develop machine-specific lockout/tagout procedures, evaluate power industrial truck operator performance every three years, ensure machine guarding was provided for various machinery, and ensure point of operation guarding was in place on machinery to prevent amputation and other hazards.
OSHA Cites Yonkers Contracting, Subcontractor Following Worker’s Crushing Death at Subway Extension Site
The worker, an employee of subcontractor J&E Industries of Belle Harbor, New York, was fatally struck by a crane boom at a work site after the wire rope used to raise and lower the boom broke, causing it to fall.
OSHA’s inspection found that Yonkers Contracting had not conducted required inspections of wire ropes used to hoist materials, including the boom hoist that collapsed and killed the worker. Inspections by the employer are required before each work shift and on a monthly and annual basis to identify and correct any defects in the ropes. A total of 10 serious violations were cited, which also include allowing a worker inside the crane's fall zone, not ensuring that a rigger (that is, a worker who rigs cranes to lift loads) is properly trained, fall hazards stemming from an unguarded/open-sided work area, impalement hazards from unguarded rebar, and failing to conduct required annual functional testing of the hoist.
Additionally, J&E Industries was issued one serious citation involving a lack of training for a rigger. 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.
Yonkers Contacting faces $68,000 in proposed fines and J&E Industries faces a $7,000 proposed fine.
OSHA Conducts Follow-Up Inspection of Stroh Precision Die Casting; Finds Nine Safety Violations
OSHA has cited Stroh Precision Die Casting for nine safety, including five repeat, violations at the company’s Mauston, Wisconsin, facility. OSHA conducted an inspection in May as a follow-up to an August 2011 inspection that had resulted in citations for failing to provide appropriate protective equipment and train workers on hazardous chemicals, among other violations. Proposed fines for the most recent inspection total $51,590.
Specifically, the repeat violations are failing to provide appropriate hand protection, require workers to wear face protection, train workers on the use of personal protective equipment, properly label chemicals in the workplace, and train workers on hazardous chemicals. Similar violations were cited based on the 2011 inspection.
Four serious safety violations involve failing to guard abrasive wheels, keep passageways clear from clutter, mount fire extinguishers, and remove oil residue on floors to prevent workers from slipping.
Stroh Precision Die Casting employs about 90 workers at its Mauston facility.
Hurtado Construction Cited with Repeat Violations for Exposing Workers to Cave-In Hazards
Proposed penalties total $46,200.
OSHA’s Houston South Area Office initiated a safety inspection June 21 at a work site in the Aliana residential subdivision of Richmond as a follow-up to a previous inspection. Investigators cited the employer for failing to provide cave-in protection such as an engineered shoring system or a trench box, ensure that a competent person capable of overseeing the work is present, and ensure that piles of materials are kept away from the edge of the trench to prevent workers from being struck by falling objects. Similar violations were cited at a work site in the Del Webb residential subdivision of Richmond in September 2010.
OSHA’s standards require that trenches or excavations five feet or deeper be protected against collapse.
Hurtado Construction employs about 80 workers.
OSHA Cites Contractor for Repeat, Serious Trenching Violations
OSHA has cited a Nashua, New Hampshire, contractor for alleged repeat and serious safety violations at a Middlesex County, Massachusetts, utility installation work site. Newport Construction faces a total of $30,310 in proposed fines chiefly for trenching hazards at the site.
OSHA's inspectors were driving by the intersection en route to another work site when they observed employees working in what appeared to be an unprotected excavation. An inspection was opened on the spot and the trench, which was deeper than five feet, was found to lack both cave-in protection and a means for workers to swiftly and safely exit the trench in the event of a collapse or other emergency.
As a result, OSHA issued Newport Construction citations carrying $28,000 in fines for two repeat violations. Similar violations were cited in October 2008 at an Andover work site.
A citation with a $2,310 fine has been issued for one serious violation that involves not marking lifting slings with the maximum weight they can safely lift. When the weight limit is unknown, workers are exposed to crushing hazards if the slings are overloaded and fail while lifting a load.
ResCare Ohio Fined for Inadequate Workplace Violence Safeguards At Residential Care Facility
Camelot Lake accumulated a total of 20 workplace violence cases from 2009–2012, resulting in 53 days away from work and 37 days of restricted duty. Employees have been exposed to physical assaults during routine interaction with residents who have a history of violent behavior.
A serious violation of OSHA’s general duty clause involves failing to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause serious injury or death.
Three other-than-serious violations involve failing to post a summary for lost or restricted work days due to injury or illness on the OSHA 300 logs during 2011, provide OSHA injury and illness logs upon request for 2009 and 2010, and conduct annual reviews and updates of the company’s bloodborne pathogen program.
OSHA established the National Emphasis Program for Nursing and Residential Care Facilities to provide guidance to agency compliance staff on policies and procedures for targeting and conducting inspections focused on the hazards associated with nursing and residential care. In 2010, according to the department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, nursing and residential care facilities experienced one of the highest rates of lost workdays due to injuries and illnesses of all major American industries.
ResCare Ohio employs more than 270 workers, including 50 at the Camelot Lake facility who provide daily care for up to 36 clients. ResCare is a human service company that provides residential, therapeutic, job training, and educational support to people with developmental and other disabilities, seniors who need in-home assistance, and youth with special needs. Based in Louisville, Kentucky, ResCare and its nearly 45,000 employees serve some 57,000 people daily in 42 states; Washington, District of Columbia; Canada; and Puerto Rico.
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