OSHA has concluded a special evaluation of state-run occupational safety and health programs under its jurisdiction. Enhanced Federal Annual Monitoring and Evaluation reports provide detailed findings and recommendations on the operations of state-run OSHA programs in 25 states and territories. The enhanced review was initiated after a 2009 special OSHA report on Nevada’s program, prompted by numerous construction-related fatalities in Las Vegas, identified serious operational deficiencies in that state.
“Our goal is to identify problems in state-run programs before they result in serious injuries or fatalities,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. “While we found many positives in the state programs, we also found deficiencies including concerns about identification of hazards, proper classification of violations, proposed penalty levels, and failure to follow up on violations to ensure that workplace safety and health problems are corrected.”
States will have 30 days to provide a formal response, including a detailed corrective action plan for addressing findings and recommendations. Each state’s formal response will be public information and available online as soon as it is received.
The EFAME review also identified areas where states have adopted standards and procedures exceeding federal OSHA’s requirements, such as injury and illness prevention programs in California, Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, and other states; the adoption of a cranes and derricks rule prior to OSHA’s in North Carolina, Washington, and Maryland; and Oregon’s requirement that employers abate serious workplace violations during the contest period, a legal tool under consideration in Congress but still lacking in federal OSHA.
OSHA is addressing these problems directly with the governor’s office and has offered to provide supplemental federal enforcement assistance until the state can address its problems. If Hawaii is unable to present a reasonable strategy for expeditiously improving its worker safety and health oversight, consideration will be given to the state’s current authority to operate its own program independently and could result in a federal takeover.
“We recognize that some of the problems we identified could stem from significant budget constraints in many of the states and may also be the result of less intensive federal oversight in recent years,” Michaels added. “OSHA, through its regional offices, intends to provide assistance in the implementation of corrective actions and will work closely with state officials to review progress. We are confident that by working together to address identified problems, we can improve state operations and provide more consistent protection to all of America’s workers.”
No reports are being issued on the Nevada and Illinois state plans; a special study was issued on the Nevada state plan in October 2009, and the Illinois state plan was not approved until September 2009. The status of each state’s efforts to improve its plans will be reflected in the fiscal year 2010 Federal Annual Monitoring and Evaluation report expected in 2011.
When Congress enacted the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, it created an opportunity for federal-state partnerships to promote safety and health. Section 18 of the law allows states to develop and enforce occupational safety and health standards in the context of an OSHA-approved state plan. Twenty-seven states and territories have sought and obtained approval. Twenty-one states and Puerto Rico have complete programs covering both the private sector and state and local governments. Four states and the U.S. Virgin Islands have programs limited in coverage to public sector employees. Currently, state plans deliver the OSHA program to 40% of the nation’s workplaces, with federal OSHA responsible for the other 60%.
State plan standards and enforcement must be at least as effective as federal OSHA in providing safe and healthful employment to workers. In addition, state plans operate under authority of state law, not delegated federal authority. Thus, in order to operate its own plan, a state must enact an equivalent of the federal OSH Act and must use administrative and regulatory procedures to adopt its own standards, regulations and operating procedures, all of which must be updated within six months of any change in the federal program.
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Pfizer Global Manufacturing Earns OSHA VPP Star
OAHA has recognized the management and employees of Pfizer Global Manufacturing in Lincoln, Nebraska for achievement in the company’s employee safety and health program.
Pfizer Global Manufacturing has been recognized as a “star” site, the highest level of recognition that OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Programs offers. The company, which produces vaccines for animal health and disease prevention, earned VPP star recognition following a comprehensive onsite evaluation by a team of OSHA safety and health experts. The company employs about 500 workers at its Lincoln facility.
“From the top down, Pfizer Global Manufacturing has displayed outstanding effort in implementing a comprehensive safety and health management system,” said Charles E. Adkins, OSHA’s regional administrator in Kansas City, Missouri. “The company is an exemplar of workplace safety.”
OSHA’s recognition programs include the VPP for employers and employees who have implemented exemplary workplace safety and health management systems. Management, labor, and OSHA work cooperatively and proactively to prevent injuries, illnesses, and workplace hazards. As part of attaining VPP status, employers must demonstrate management commitment to the safety and health of their employees, and actively involve employees in the safety and health management system.
OSHA Cites Consolidated Blenders Inc. $120,600 for Safety Hazards
OSHA has cited Consolidated Blenders Inc., doing business as Shoftstall Alfalfa, in Odessa with one alleged willful and 24 alleged serious violations for exposing workers to inadvertent machinery start-ups and other safety hazards. Proposed penalties total $120,600.
OSHA’s inspection was initiated in March under its “High Hazard Workplaces Without an OSHA Inspection Since 1996” Local Emphasis Program (LEP). This LEP targets companies in Nebraska that have not been inspected by OSHA since 1996 and employ 11 or more workers.
“There is no excuse for employees to work in an environment where they are exposed to being crushed while working inside machinery where the energy source was not properly locked out and tagged,” said Charles Adkins, OSHA’s regional administrator in Kansas City, Missouri. “It is imperative employers take the necessary steps to eliminate hazards from the workplace.”
The willful violation stems from the company’s failure to lock out and tag out all energy isolating devices. OSHA issues a willful violation when an employer exhibits plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health.
The serious violations stem from absent or deficient guardrail systems; an inadequate respiratory protection program; lack of a permit required for confined space; incomplete confined space entry program and practices; lack of energy source lockout/tagout training; insufficient powered industrial truck training; absent or deficient machine guarding; deficient compressed air equipment; improper storage of welding cylinders; and overall deficiencies in electrical wiring and equipment. OSHA issues a serious citation when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from a hazard that an employer knew or should have known about.
OSHA fines Heartland Refinery $68,000 for Exposing Workers to Fire Hazards
OSHA cited Heartland Refinery in Columbus with one alleged serious safety violation for failing to control the release of flammable liquids and vapors resulting in a July 17, 2010, fire at the facility. The refinery also has been cited with two repeat violations for problems that existed in March 2010 and were found in July 2010 not to have been corrected, as well as one failure-to-abate violation first brought to the company’s attention by OSHA in 2009. Proposed penalties total $68,900.
“Failing to follow proper procedures to prevent the unintentional release of flammable vapors and liquids in an area where a known ignition source exists creates a serious safety risk to workers, and as this case shows, a high risk of fire in the workplace,” said OSHA Area Director Deborah Zubaty in Columbus. “There is no excuse for this type of complacency, and OSHA will do all it can to protect employees in the workplace.”
The fire occurred when a flange or fitting in the process area failed to contain flammable liquids, which then leaked to an ignition source. The serious violation carries a penalty of $4,900.
Heartland Refinery also has been issued two repeat safety violations for failing to identify piping containing flammable or combustible liquids, and to develop and document hazardous energy control procedures for refinery processes. A repeat violation is issued when an employer previously was cited for the same or similar violation of any standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. Those penalties carry fines of $14,000.
The company, which re-refines motor oil through a hydrogenation process resulting in reusable clean base oil, also has been cited for failing to abate a 2009 violation, which required the development of an arc flash analysis program for workers exposed to energized electrical equipment exceeding 480 volts. The penalty accompanying this failure-to-abate violation is $50,000.
OSHA Cites Paper Recycler $48,000 for Failing to Correct Previous Workplace Hazards
Nexus Pulp and Paper has been cited by OSHA with $48,000 in proposed penalties for allegedly failing to correct workplace health hazards at their Atlanta facility.
During an inspection in May, an OSHA compliance officer found the company had not made corrections to violations uncovered during a 2009 inspection of the location. These failure-to-abate violations include failing to develop a written personal protective equipment hazard assessment to determine the protection needed by workers for each job and failing to provide employees with training in how to use personal protective equipment.
Employees were exposed to chemicals without access to material safety data sheets with information on those chemicals, a written hazard communication program warning them concerning their exposure to chemicals and training on the hazards of the chemicals used in their work areas.
“OSHA will not accept or tolerate an employer’s failure to correct conditions that threaten workers’ health,” said Andre Richards, director of OSHA’s Atlanta-West Area Office.
Clothing Manufacturer Fined $43,150 for Exposing Workers to Chemical and Other Hazards
OSHA cited Miskeen Originals LLC for workplace safety and health violations, including employee exposure to methylene chloride. Proposed penalties total $43,150. Miskeen Originals LLC is a clothing manufacturer with 12 employees at the Camden, New Jersey location.
OSHA initiated an inspection after receiving an employee complaint alleging workplace safety and health hazards. As a result of the inspection, Miskeen was cited for one willful violation with a penalty of $28,000, 12 serious violations with a $15,150 penalty, and seven other-than-serious violations, which carry no penalty.
“Employees exposed to methylene chloride are at increased risk of developing cancer; adverse effects on the heart, central nervous system and liver; and skin or eye irritation,” said Paula Dixon-Roderick, director of OSHA’s area office in Marlton, New Jersey. “These hazards need to be corrected immediately to protect the safety and health of workers at the plant.”
The willful violation was due to the company’s failure to provide emergency exits free of obstruction and unlocked.
The serious violations include employee overexposure to methylene, failing to provide personal protective equipment, conduct a personal protective equipment assessment, evaluate respiratory hazards, properly monitor for methylene chloride, conduct medical evaluations for respirators, provide eyewash, train employees on how to use fire extinguishers, establish a regulated area for employees exposed to methylene chloride, and implement effective engineering controls.
Some of the other-than-serious violations include failing to properly record injuries and illnesses, provide a written respirator and hazard communications program, maintain required material safety data sheets for each hazardous chemical at the facility, and failing to ensure that each container of hazardous chemicals was properly identified and labeled. 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 Cites Flexible Foam Products for Serious and Repeat Safety Violations
OSHA is issuing seven serious and two repeat safety citations against Flexible Foam Products Inc. in Miami, Florida, for exposing workers to combustible foam dust and other workplace hazards. Proposed penalties total $72,000.
The company is being cited with two repeat violations and $50,000 in proposed fines for allegedly failing to keep an area clean and free of dangerous accumulations of explosive and combustible foam dust and for failing to install machine guards on cutting machines to protect workers from amputation hazards. The repeat violations were uncovered during an inspection in May that followed an inspection conducted in November, 2009.
Five serious citations with $22,000 in penalties are also being proposed for allegedly operating unapproved propane-powered forklifts in areas with a potential for a dust explosion or fire, using forklifts with nonworking lights, using electrical fixtures not approved for use in explosive atmospheres, using a frayed cord to operate machinery and operating a bench grinder without a machine guard to protect employees from flying pieces of stone.
“Employers need to be aware that OSHA will be conducting follow-up inspections to ensure that past violations are being corrected,” explained Darlene Fossum, director of OSHA’s Fort Lauderdale Area Office in Florida. “OSHA will not hesitate to take additional actions against employers who have demonstrated recalcitrance or indifference to following the law.”
$62,800 Penalty for Excavation Hazards
OSHA cited Gary’s Grading and Pipeline Co. Inc., of Monroe, Georgia with four safety violations for exposing workers to excavation hazards while installing a tie-in pipe between two manhole basins at a site in Gainesville, Georgia. Proposed penalties total $62,800.
The company is being cited with two repeat violations and $56,000 in proposed penalties for failing to inspect a trench after conditions changed. In addition, the company is being cited for exposing workers to engulfment hazards by not having a protective system in place to prevent a trench collapse. The company was cited previously for these same violations, most recently in 2007.
The citations also include two serious violations with a proposed penalty of $6,800 for exposing workers to fall hazards, and creating a collapse hazard by failing to keep excavated and other material or equipment at least 2 feet from the edge of the excavation.
“Disregarding workers’ safety by leaving them unprotected from potential cave-in hazards is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” said Bill Fulcher, director of OSHA’s Atlanta-East Area Office in Georgia.
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