OSHA has issued the U.S. Minerals, LLC facility in Baldwin, Illinois, seven citations for allegedly failing to develop and implement procedures to control hazardous energy, install guard rails where necessary, and maintain equipment. The company faces penalties totaling $83,000 following an inspection that began during September 2010.
One willful citation with a proposed penalty of $56,000 was issued for failing to develop and document procedures to control potentially hazardous energy. OSHA regulations require an employer to establish a program consisting of energy control procedures, employee training, and periodic inspections. The purpose of such a program is to ensure that, before an employee performs any servicing or maintenance on a machine or other equipment where the unexpected energizing, startup, or release of stored energy could occur and cause injury, the equipment is isolated from the energy source and rendered inoperative. A willful violation exists when an employer has demonstrated either an intentional disregard for the requirements of the law or plain indifference to employee safety and health.
OSHA also issued U.S. Minerals three repeat citations with proposed fines of $18,000 alleging that the company failed to have guardrails on an open-sided platform 17 feet high, install guarding on a material dump hopper, and provide and use lockout/tagout hardware devices for securing or blocking machines from energy sources. A repeat citation is issued when an employer has been cited previously 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.
Three serious citations were issued to the company alleging lack of inspection and maintenance documentation for a Caterpillar 980G Loader, use of an unguarded conveyer tail pulley, and failing to have authorized employees affix lockout/tagout equipment to energy isolation devices. Those violations carry total penalties of $9,000. A serious citation is issued 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.
U.S. Minerals, LLC, headquartered in Dyer, Indiana, manufactures abrasive blasting and roofing materials from slag produced at coal-fired power plants. Following an inspection that began in June 2010, OSHA issued a $466,400 penalty to the company’s Baldwin, Illinois, facility in September citing 35 health and safety violations for willfully exposing workers to dangerously high levels of hazardous dust and failing to provide adequate breathing protection.
As a result of the egregious conditions found in Baldwin last summer, OSHA initiated inspections of the company’s three other facilities, including its Coffeen, Illinois, location where a total of 28 health and safety citations with proposed penalties of $396,000 were issued in December 2010. In November 2010, the company’s Harvey, Louisiana, operation was cited for 30 violations with proposed penalties of $110,400, and its Galveston, Texas, facility was fined $273,000 and cited with 38 violations for exposing workers to fall and machine guarding hazards. U.S. Minerals is contesting the previously issued citations at all four of its facilities.
As a result of the company’s willful and repeat safety violations, U.S. Minerals was placed in OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) in December 2010. The program focuses on employers with a history of safety violations that endanger workers by demonstrating indifference to their responsibilities under the law. This enforcement tool includes mandatory OSHA follow-up inspections and inspections of other worksites of the same employer where similar hazards and deficiencies may be present.
How to Prepare for OSHA Adoption of the GHS for Classification and Labeling of Chemicals
It is expected that in August, OSHA will announce U.S. employers must begin to adopt the GHS.
This means that virtually every chemical label, MSDS (soon to be called “safety data sheet”), 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 SDSs.
Theses dramatic changes will also impact other OSHA standards such as Flammable and Combustible Liquids, Process Safety Management (PSM), Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER), Fire Prevention and Protection, Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Chemicals in Laboratories, and many of the chemical-specific OSHA standards such as the Lead Standard.
At this live webcast, you will learn:
- GHS standards OSHA is adopting
- How the new standards differ from current requirements
- How to implement the changes
- Expected timetable for GHS implementation
Cary, North Carolina 24-Hr and 40-Hr HAZWOPER Courses
Courses for HAZWOPER training will be offered in March at Environmental Resource Center’s Cary, North Carolina office.
Personnel who are expected to stop, contain, and clean up on-site releases are required to have 24 hours of initial training. Personnel who are involved in cleanups at waste sites—including Superfund sites, RCRA corrective action sites, or even voluntary cleanups involving hazardous substances—must have 40 hours of initial classroom instruction.
Satisfy your training requirements by attending a comprehensive class that provides in-depth instruction on how to perform emergency response activities. Topics include hazard recognition, spill control and containment, worker protection, and waste site activities such as site characterization, waste handling, and decontamination. You will have the opportunity to apply your training during a hands-on simulated incident response.
Advertising Opportunities Available
Environmental Resource Center is making a limited number of advertising positions available in the Safety Tip of the Week™, the Environmental Tip of the Week™, and the Reg of the Day™.
LA Man Pleads Guilty to Asbestos Work Practice Conspiracy
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, John Bostick has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act’s (CAA) asbestos work practice standards during the renovation of a 204-unit apartment building in Winnetka, California in 2006.
The federal CAA requires those who own or supervise the renovation of buildings that contain asbestos to adhere to certain established work practice standards. These standards were created to ensure the safe removal and disposal of the asbestos and the protection of workers.
According to the plea agreement filed in federal court, Bostick knew in January 2006 that asbestos was present in the ceilings of the units of the apartment complex known as Forest Glen. Knowing that the asbestos was there, Bostick and his co-conspirators hired a group of workers who were not trained or certified to conduct asbestos abatements and had them scrape the ceilings of the apartment units without telling the workers about the asbestos. The illegal scraping resulted in the repeated release of asbestos-containing material throughout the apartment complex and the surrounding area and also caused the unlicensed workers to potentially be exposed to asbestos. After the illegal asbestos abatement was shut down by an inspector from the California South Coast Air Quality Management District, the asbestos was cleaned up at a cost of about $1.2 million.
On June 14, 2010, Joseph Yoon, the project manager, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the asbestos work place standards at the apartment site. A sentencing date has been set for April 25.
A six-count indictment charging conspiracy and multiple violations is pending against co-defendant Charles Yi, who was the owner of the Forest Glen condominiums. The trial in this case is scheduled for March 15. The allegations in the indictment are mere accusations and all persons are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The case was investigated by the U.S. EPA’s Office of Criminal Enforcement, the California South Coast Air Quality Management District, and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California and the U.S. Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division.
Oregon OSHA Initiates Emphasis on Amputations
Oregon OSHA is beginning an emphasis program to reduce injuries and workplace risks that result in amputations. The state agency will focus more on inspections of job sites with machinery, equipment, and processes that cause amputations and job sites where amputations have occurred in the past. Industries with significant hazards and high amputation rates include meat packing plants, food processing, pulp and paper mills, sawmills, cabinet manufacturing, sheet metal work, foundries, and commercial printing among others.
“The loss of a finger or limb can be life changing for any worker,” said Oregon OSHA Administrator Michael Wood. “This emphasis program will help us identify risks earlier so that employers can prevent amputations.”
From 2005 to 2009, Oregon had more than 800 accepted workers’ compensation claims for amputations. Machinery was the source of more than half of those claims, and powered hand tools added another 8% to the total. Nearly all of the amputations—97%—were fingers.
Inspectors will assess machinery cleaning, jams, and regular operations, along with maintenance procedures. The scope of an inspection may be expanded to address unrelated hazards if they pose a serious danger.
OSHA Timeline Highlights 40 Years
The Occupational Safety and Health Act was signed into law by President Nixon on December 29, 1970. On April 28, 1971, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was created. In the four decades since OSHA was created, the nation has made dramatic progress in reducing work related deaths and injuries.
“We hope you will join us in this anniversary year as we recognize OSHA’s accomplishments and reaffirm our dedication to the agency’s mission,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “Help us celebrate four decades of healthier workers, safer workplaces, and a stronger America.”
OSHA invites the public to visit the timeline and explore 40 years of progress in workplace health and safety.
NIOSH Offering Free Black Lung Screening for Coal Miners
Beginning in March 2011, NIOSH will continue a series of free, confidential health screenings to surface coal miners throughout the U.S. The screenings are intended to provide early detection of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, also known as black lung, a serious but preventable occupational lung disease in coal miners caused by breathing respirable dust. The screening will include a work history questionnaire, a chest X-ray, and blood pressure testing. Typically, the process takes about 15 minutes. NIOSH will provide an individual miner with the results of his or her own screening, but by law each person’s test results remain entirely confidential.
The health screenings will be provided by NIOSH through a mobile testing van at community and mine locations. Locations, dates, and other details are being finalized. Similar screenings were offered in 2010.
“It is critical to detect coal workers’ pneumoconiosis as early as possible, to guide intervention and keep the disease from advancing to stages in which it becomes progressively debilitating and life-threatening,” said NIOSH Director John Howard, M.D. “The screening offered by NIOSH is designed to serve that purpose. As a source of data through which scientists may identify trends in cases, it is also a vital component of efforts by NIOSH and its partners to protect miners at risk and eliminate coal workers’ pneumoconiosis once and for all.”
NIOSH will provide the health screening for surface coal miners under its Enhanced Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program. Traditionally, NIOSH has provided the program for health surveillance of underground coal miners.
The prevalence of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis among long-term underground miners who participated in chest X-ray screening decreased from the 1970s to the 1990s. However, the rate of disease in underground miners participating in the NIOSH program has recently increased.
The current rate for underground miners participating in the NIOSH Program and having a tenure in coal mining of at least 25 years is 9% nationally, double the rate in 1995. Knowing the frequency of the disease and who may be at risk is important for determining how to prevent new cases.
NIOSH and NORA Accepting Nominations for Two Prestigious Worker Health and Safety Awards
The National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) Liaison Committee and NIOSH have announced their invitation for nominations for two prestigious worker health and safety awards to be presented at the seventh NORA Symposium to be held in Cincinnati, Ohio, on July 12-13, 2011. The two awards include:
This award was first given in 1999 and recognizes collaborative research achievements that have advanced prevention, protection, and intervention in occupational safety and health.
This award was first given in 2006 and recognizes innovative research in one of the 21 NORA priority areas from the first decade or in another area that the nominator justifies is a high priority for worker health, such as work that addresses one or more goals in the sector strategic plans.
The deadline for receipt of nominations for both the Partnering Award and the Innovative Research Award is May 18, 2011.
OSHA Cites Waste Facility Inc. for Multiple Safety and Health Hazards
OSHA has issued 21 serious citations to Waste Facility Inc., for exposing workers to multiple safety and health hazards following an inspection at the company’s facility in Premont, Texas. Proposed penalties total $48,000.
OSHA’s Corpus Christi Area Office initiated a safety and health inspection on October 12, 2010, following a complaint about the company’s facility on West County Road 431 where employees were processing waste materials without the use of respiratory protection or protective eye equipment.
The serious violations include failing to provide guardrails around pits, platforms, and stairs; provide appropriate personal protective equipment such as goggles or gloves; develop a respiratory protection program; provide a confined space entry program and procedures; and develop and implement a hazard communication program.
Waste Facility Inc., which employs about 21 workers in Premont, cleans vacuum trucks and fractionation tanks associated with oil and gas operations.
OSHA Orders Company to Reinstate Truck Driver and Pay Back Wages under Whistleblower Protection Program
OSHA has ordered United Auto Delivery and Recovery/Memphis Auto Auction to reinstate a former truck driver who was fired in violation of the whistleblower provisions of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act for repeatedly complaining to a supervisor about mechanical problems with a truck.
OSHA is ordering the company to pay the worker more than $111,000 as compensation for back wages plus interest, compensatory damages, and punitive damages. The company is also required to delete any adverse references related to the discharge from the employee’s personnel file and post a fact sheet informing employees of their rights.
“Employees have the legal right to report unsafe driving situations, not only for their own safety, but also to protect the public from unsafe trucks on the roads,” said Cindy Coe, OSHA’s regional administrator in Atlanta. “OSHA will not allow trucking companies to retaliate against drivers who are exercising their rights.”
In February 2009, after repeatedly complaining to a supervisor about mechanical problems with a truck, the supervisor agreed to the complainant’s suggestion to leave work and return when the truck was repaired. The next day, the complainant’s employment was terminated.
A whistleblower complaint was filed with OSHA, and an agency whistleblower investigator found that the complainant was terminated unlawfully. Either party to the case can file an appeal with the Labor Department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges, but the complainant must immediately be reinstated regardless of whether the order is appealed.
United Auto Delivery and Recovery/Memphis Auto Auction is a commercial carrier that provides vehicle repossession services in the Midwest, and sells and auctions recovered vehicles. Its headquarters are in Memphis, and the company has approximately 50 non-union drivers.
OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act and 20 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various securities laws, trucking, airline, nuclear, pipeline, environmental, rail, maritime, health care, workplace safety and health, and consumer product and food safety laws. Under the various whistleblower provisions enacted by Congress, employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or to the government. Employees who believe that they have been retaliated against for engaging in protected conduct may file a complaint with the secretary of labor for an investigation by OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program.
OSHA Issues Penalties to FABCO Equipment Co. for Over $71,000
OSHA has issued FABCO Equipment Co., Inc., 19 safety and health citations with penalties totaling $71,764 after a September 2010 investigation at its facility in Albertville, Alabama. The hazards identified during this most recent inspection served as a follow-up to an inspection conducted in November 2009.
OSHA issued FABCO one failure-to-abate health citation with a proposed penalty of $7,700 alleging that the company failed to train employees in using and handling hazardous chemicals. A failure-to-abate citation is issued when an employer fails to fix or address previously cited hazardous conditions, practices, or noncompliant equipment.
The agency also issued FABCO four repeat safety and health citations with $24,794 in fines. The safety citations allege a lack of machine guarding and an electrical deficiency. The health citations allege a failure to provide medical evaluations for employees wearing respiratory protection, and not certifying that a proper hazard assessment had been performed and proper protective equipment identified.
Additionally, four serious safety citations allege that FABCO failed to develop and utilize lockout/tagout procedures to prevent accidental machinery start-up, allowed improper use of forklift equipment, and permitted two electrical deficiencies. Seven health citations were issued alleging a failure to implement sound engineering controls for overexposure to noise, implement a hearing conservation program, protect employees from hazards associated with exposure to a range of particulates, provide proper personal protection during blasting operations, train employees who wear respirators, have a hazard communication program, and label hazardous chemical containers. Penalties for the serious violations total $39,270.
The company also received three other-than-serious health citations with no proposed penalties for not obtaining a written medical recommendation for employees wearing respirators, failing to conduct initial monitoring for potential exposure to hexavalent chromium, and a deficiency in the bloodborne pathogen program. 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.
OSHA Fines United Furniture Industries Inc. $66,000 for Safety Violations
OSHA has cited United Furniture Industries Inc., in Okolona, Mississippi, for 18 safety violations with proposed penalties totaling $66,000.
The company is being cited for one repeat violation with a proposed penalty of $15,000 for allegedly failing to label feeder and branch electrical circuits. In March 2010, the company was cited by OSHA for the same violation at another of its Okolona locations.
OSHA also issued the company 15 serious citations alleging an accumulation of explosive dust; failure to provide railings on stairs; blocked, unmarked, and inadequate exits; damaged fire extinguishers; allowing safety devices to be removed from nail guns; a lack of machine guards on fan blades, staplers, pulleys, chains, and sprocket wheels; multiple electrical hazards, including blocked access to electrical panels; live electrical equipment exposed to potential contact; lack of coverings for unused openings in electrical panels; flexible cords substituted for fixed permanent wiring; damaged and improperly spliced flexible cords; and wiring methods that were not approved for combustible dust. Proposed penalties for the serious citations total $51,000.
Two other-than-serious violations were cited with no proposed penalty for a lack of procedures to transfer responsibilities for lockout/tagout of energy sources between workers and for not testing equipment to verify lockout was operational.
Barletta Heavy Division Inc. Facing More than $52,000 in OSHA Fines
OSHA has cited Barletta Heavy Division Inc., for alleged repeat and serious violations of safety standards at the Hultman Aqueduct project in Weston, Massachusetts. The Canton, Massachusetts contractor faces a total of $52,500 in proposed fines.
An OSHA inspection found that employees working inside the aqueduct tunnel were exposed to excess noise levels and lacked hearing protection. The tunnel also lacked fire extinguishers, and employees were working in close proximity to an exposed energized electrical panel. In addition, employees were exposed to fall hazards of up to 14 feet from a lack of fall protection and from using a ladder that did not extend at least 3 feet above the upper landing service for required stability.
In 2008, OSHA cited Barletta for similar fall hazards at worksites at Commonwealth Pier and Ashmont Station in Boston. As a result, OSHA has issued the employer two repeat citations with $37,500 in proposed fines for these recurring hazards.
The noise, fire extinguisher, and electrical hazards resulted in the issuance of three serious citations with $15,000 in fines.
OSHA Fines Aggregate Plant Products Co. for Serious Workplace Safety and Health Hazards
OSHA has cited Aggregate Plant Products Co., with 12 serious and four other-than-serious violations following a safety and health inspection at the company’s San Antonio, Texas facility. Proposed penalties total $45,900.
OSHA began its inspection on December 8, 2010, at the company’s facility where employees manufacture equipment used in the oil and gas industry. The planned inspection was initiated as part of OSHA’s Site-Specific Targeting National Emphasis Program.
Serious citations allege a failure to provide training on the use of forklift equipment; provide the required machine guarding; correct electrical deficiencies, such as replacing missing grounding prongs on electrical equipment and allowing employees to use extension cords as permanent wiring; repair exposed fixture wiring; and correctly mount switches and outlets.
The other-than-serious citations allege that the company failed to repair broken safety sight glass on a welding regulator and properly certify injury and illness forms.
OSHA Fines A.A. Will Corp. $69,300 for Failing to Provide Cave-in Protection
OSHA has cited A.A. Will Corp., $69,300 for alleged willful and repeat violations of workplace safety standards following an inspection of a worksite located at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Wonderland Station in Revere, Massachusetts. The Stoughton, Massachusetts contractor was installing electrical vaults in the station’s parking lot.
OSHA’s nighttime inspection, initiated in response to a complaint about unsafe conditions, found A.A. Will Corp.’s employees working in a trench deeper than 5 feet that lacked protection against collapse of its sidewalls. The trench also lacked a ladder or other means for the workers to exit in the event of a cave-in or other emergency.
“The unprotected walls of an excavation can collapse in seconds, crushing workers beneath tons of soil and debris before they have a chance to react or escape. Employers must never allow an employee to face such a dangerous situation,” said Jeffrey A. Erskine, OSHA’s area director in Middlesex and Essex counties. “Employers also should not assume that they are exempt from an OSHA inspection when they work at night. Worker safety is a priority that extends beyond nine to five hours.”
As a result of its findings, OSHA issued the company one willful citation with a proposed fine of $61,600 for lacking cave-in protection, and one repeat citation with a fine of $7,700 for lacking an exit ladder. The repeat citation stems from OSHA having cited the employer in February 2010 for a similar hazard at a Boston worksite.
OSHA standards require that all trenches and excavations 5 feet or deeper be protected against collapse.
OSHA Fines Georgia Construction Company $42,000 for Cave-in Hazards
OSHA has cited Latex Construction Co., Inc,. of Conyers, Georgia for failing to provide its employees with protection against cave-ins while working in a trench. The violations occurred while the company laid 12 miles of natural gas pipe in a trench along Old National Highway in Atlanta. Proposed penalties total $42,000.
OSHA issued the company one repeat citation with a $35,000 penalty alleging that it failed to provide cave-in protection in a trench approximately 150 feet long, 17 feet wide, and seven feet deep. Without adequate protection, such as a trench box, workers can be crushed or completely engulfed by cave-ins or when trench walls otherwise collapse. Fatalities or serious injuries can occur. Latex Construction was cited for the same violation while performing work in Florida in 2007.
“This employer is aware of OSHA’s requirements but left the workers unprotected,” said Andre Richards, director of OSHA’s Atlanta-West Area Office. “Being irresponsible about workers’ safety is unacceptable, and OSHA will not tolerate it.”
OSHA also issued the company one serious citation with a $7,000 penalty alleging that it failed to provide a ladder for escaping a trench within 25 feet of those working in an excavation.
OSHA Cites Venetian Marble & Granite for Exposing Workers to Excessive Levels of Respirable Silica
OSHA has cited Venetian Marble & Granite in Helotes, Texas with 10 serious safety and health violations after an inspection found that workers were exposed to unsafe levels of crystalline silica particles. Proposed penalties total $41,300.
“This company jeopardized the health of its workers by exposing them to respirable silica above OSHA’s established limits,” said Jeff Funke, director of OSHA’s San Antonio Area Office.
OSHA’s San Antonio office initiated a safety and health inspection on November 8, 2010, at the company’s facility on Western Oak Drive and determined that employees were exposed to respirable crystalline silica particles while grinding, sanding, and buffing countertop products such as natural granite, quartz, and solid surfaces.
The agency alleges that the company failed to ensure levels of crystalline silica met safety standards, provide employees with required respiratory protection, determine that employees were medically fit to wear respiratory protection, follow proper procedures to lock out/tag out accidental energy start-up prior to servicing and performing maintenance on machinery, properly guard a table saw and cut off saw, and train employees on the use of hazardous chemicals.
Venetian Marble & Granite employs about 45 workers who manufacture custom countertops for residential and commercial applications.
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