The announcement was made during a program at the department’s headquarters marking Workers’ Memorial Day—an annual observance to honor workers who have died on the job and renew a commitment to making work sites across the country safer.
OSHA sent a memorandum to the agency’s regional administrators directing field inspectors to assess whether employers who use temporary workers are complying with their responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Inspectors will use a newly created code in their information system to denote when temporary workers are exposed to safety and health violations. Additionally, they will assess whether temporary workers received required training in a language and vocabulary they could understand.
“On Workers’ Memorial Day, we mourn the loss of the thousands of workers who die each year on the job from preventable hazards,” said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. “Many of those killed and injured are temporary workers who often perform the most dangerous jobs have limited English proficiency and are not receiving the training and protective measures required. Workers must be safe, whether they’ve been on the job for one day or for 25 years.”
In addition, OSHA has begun working with the American Staffing Association and employers that use staffing agencies, to promote best practices ensuring that temporary workers are protected from job hazards.
In recent months, OSHA has received a series of reports about temporary workers suffering fatal injuries—many during their first days on a job. OSHA has issued citations when the employer failed to provide adequate protections, including safety training.
Hispanic/Latino contractors accounted for 28% of fatal work injuries among contractors, well above their 16% share of the overall fatal work injury total for the year.
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 SDSs.
Hilton Head RCRA and DOT Training
Orlando RCRA and DOT Training
Baltimore RCRA, DOT, IATA/IMO, and GHS HazCom Training
Free Workplace Violence Seminar Available
Nearly 2 million American workers report having been victims of workplace violence each year. Unfortunately, many more cases go unreported. Workplace violence can strike anywhere, anytime, and no one is immune. On May 15, OSHA and the University of Texas at Arlington OSHA Education Center will offer a four-hour seminar on workplace violence prevention.
The event will include guest speakers, an OSHA update and emergency action planning, prevention techniques and active shooter preparedness. The seminar is designed to provide best practices to prevent workplace violence and strategies when encountering an active shooter scenario. Participants may join in person at the University of Texas at Arlington or remotely via the web at no cost.
Safety Precautions for Toluene Exposure
Toluene, a colorless liquid typically used in a mixture with other solvents and chemicals such as paint pigments, can cause serious health problems in workers who are exposed to it.
Toluene exposures have been studied in nail salons and printing establishments, auto repair, and construction activities. Workers can be exposed to toluene by breathing it in, getting it on their skin, getting it splashed into their eyes, or swallowing it. Toluene affects the central nervous system, eyes, skin, respiratory system, liver, and kidneys. OSHA’s toluene Web page contains information on health hazards and protective measures, occupational exposure limits, OSHA standards, risk assessment, and other resources.
Collis Roofing, Inc. Fined More than $200,000 for Exposing Workers to Fall and Other Hazards
OSHA has cited Longwood-based Collis Roofing, Inc., with three willful and one serious safety violation for exposing workers to fall and other hazards while they were performing roofing work at three residential sites in Jacksonville, Oviedo, and Palm Harbor. Two inspections were initiated in November 2012 and a third in December 2012 after OSHA inspectors observed employees without fall protection. These inspections were all part of the agency’s local emphasis program on fall hazards in construction. Proposed penalties total $213,300.
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.
One serious violation, with a $3,300 penalty, was also cited for failing to inspect a fall harness that had previously been involved in an impact event. 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.
“When fall protection is absent, workers are only steps away from a serious injury or death,” said Teresa Harrison, OSHA’s acting regional administrator for the Southeast. “Employers must ensure that workers have and wear the proper equipment at all times.”
The citations can be viewed at
The page offers fact sheets, posters, and videos that vividly illustrate various fall hazards and appropriate preventive measures.
OSHA Cites Globe Metallurgical for Serious and Repeat Safety Violations Following Worker Fatality
OSHA has cited Globe Metallurgical, Inc., with five safety violations following the death of a worker who died after falling 16 feet off a fixed ladder while working in a feeder tunnel at the company’s Selma plant.
OSHA’s Mobile Area Office initiated an inspection on October 26, 2012, in response to the fatality, conducted concurrently with a follow-up inspection at the company.
Three repeat safety violations involve failing to ensure workers were protected from floor openings, that all railings on the electrode platform met minimal requirements; and all electrical panels, boxes and fittings had closed knockouts. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. Similar violations were cited following OSHA’s 2009 and 2010 inspections.
Two serious safety violations involve failing to ensure workers in the feeder tunnel were not exposed to an unguarded skip hoist, as well as for exposing workers to fire and explosion hazards by allowing combustible dust to accumulate on surfaces, such as electrical panels, ledges, and I-beams.
“This incident could have been prevented. Employers cannot allow workers to be exposed to unguarded equipment or fire/explosion hazards,” said Joseph Roesler, OSHA’s area director in Mobile. “It’s imperative that management eliminate hazards from the workplace.”
The citations for the repeat and serious violations carry $106,000 in proposed penalties.
Globe Metallurgical, Inc., is engaged in the smelting of silicon from wood chips and river rocks that is later used in the manufacture of a wide range of industrial and commercial products.
Anheuser-Busch Cos. LLC in Houston Fined $88,000 for Failing to Protect Workers from Carbon Dioxide Exposure
The October 2012 complaint inspection of the facility on Gellhorn Drive has resulted in a proposed penalty totaling $88,000.
The alleged willful violation was cited for failing to consider the carbon dioxide atmosphere in the brewing cellars to be immediately dangerous to life or health while also failing to identify respiratory hazards.
“Employers must recognize the hazards that exist in their workplaces and then develop the necessary safety and health policies and procedures to protect workers,” said David Doucet, OSHA’s area director at its Houston North Office.
The serious violations cited include failing to verify that conditions in permit required confined spaces are acceptable throughout the duration of the entry; ensure the entrant can communicate with the permit required confined space attendant as necessary, so that entrants can be monitored in the event an evacuation is needed; ensure each attendant performs no other duty that might interfere with the attendant’s primary duty to monitor and protect the entrant of the permit required confined space; evaluate a prospective rescuer’s ability to respond to a rescue summons in a timely manner; and inform each team or rescue service of the hazards they may confront when called upon to perform a rescue at the site.
Anheuser-Busch, headquartered in St. Louis, employs about 600 workers at its Houston brewery.
Maine Pipe Supplier Faces More than $76,000 in Proposed Penalties for Serious Safety Violations
OSHA has cited pipe supplier Everett J. Prescott, Inc., for alleged repeat and serious violations of workplace safety standards. The Gardiner supplier of pipe and related equipment faces a total of $76,230 in proposed fines following an inspection of a Scarborough worksite by OSHA’s Augusta office begun in March.
OSHA inspectors were traveling to another worksite when they came across an open and unguarded 7-foot, 3-inch deep excavation on Pine Point Road.
The repeat violations include failing to protect workers from cave-ins with an adequate protective system and that trained supervisory personnel failed to remove workers from the hazardous area until the necessary precautions could be taken. OSHA standards require that excavations 5 feet or deeper be protected against collapse. Similar violations were cited in 2009. The proposed penalties for the repeat violations are $69,300.
“Repeat excavation violations are unacceptable because they signal a recurring failure on the part of the employer to ensure that workers are safe while on the job,” said William Coffin, OSHA’s area director for Maine. “The walls of an unguarded excavation can collapse suddenly and with great force, burying workers beneath tons of soil before they have a chance to react or escape.”
The serious violations included portable ladders that did not extend at least three feet above the upper landing surface, and failing to keep objects two feet from the edge of the excavation to prevent them from falling into the excavation. The total proposed penalties for the serious violations are $6,930.
OSHA Fines Dolco Packaging Corp. $64,000 for Serious Safety Violations
OSHA has cited Dolco Packaging, Corp., a division of TekniPlex, Inc., with 12 serious safety violations following an inspection at the company’s Lawrenceville facility. OSHA initiated the November 2012 inspection as a result of a complaint. Proposed penalties total $64,100.
“Employers need to be proactive in identifying and removing workplace hazards rather than waiting for OSHA inspectors to address them,” said Bill Fulcher, director of OSHA’s Atlanta-East Area Office. “Employers are responsible for ensuring that their workers have a safe and healthful work environment.”
Waikiki Hotel Fined $49,000 for 14 Serious Safety and Health Violations
OSHA has cited Halekulani Corp., owner and operator of Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki Beach, with 14 serious safety violations following a routine inspection.
“The hotel industry is one of the biggest employers in Hawaii, and it’s critical that owners and operators have strong safety and health programs,” said Galen Lemke, director of OSHA’s Honolulu Area Office. “Halekulani has an obligation to protect its staff and ensure a safe working environment.”
The 14 serious violations involve personal protective equipment use and availability, fire extinguisher maintenance and inspection and a lack of electrical safe work practices by maintenance workers, such as the provision of appropriate equipment for electrical work.
The three other-than-serious violations involve a lack of labeling and access to electrical panels and labels on gas cylinders. 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 began its investigation January 16 during a regularly scheduled inspection under a local emphasis program for hotels. The full service, five-star hotel employs more than 800 people who service more than 450 rooms.
OSHA Fines Philadelphia Plumbing and Heating Company More than $40,000 for Workplace Safety Hazards
OSHA has cited DG Barrett Plumbing and Heating for three repeat and four serious violations, including excavation hazards, found while the company was installing a sewer line at a Philadelphia residence. OSHA’s October 2012 investigation was initiated in response to a complaint alleging imminent danger and as part of the agency’s national emphasis program on trenching and excavation. Proposed penalties total $40,480.
The repeat violations, with a $36,960 penalty, include the lack of a protective system for workers in an excavation, lack of barrier for the spoil pile and inadequate training regarding the hazards associated with excavation activity. Similar violations were cited in August 2011 and July 2012.
The serious violations resulted in a $3,520 penalty for the company’s failure to provide a hazard communication program, including information and training to workers on the hazards associated with the use of lead to seal pipe joints, and failure to provide head protection in an excavation.
“This company continues to disregard OSHA’s rules on using protective systems while performing excavating activities,” said Domenick Salvatore, director of OSHA’s Philadelphia Area Office. “These violations can cause serious harm to workers and must be corrected as soon as possible.”
OSHA Cites Employer for Unrestricted Grizzly Bear Exposure
OSHA has cited wildlife casting agency Animals of Montana, Inc., for two safety violations following an inspection that began after a 24-year-old trainer was mauled to death in November 2012 while cleaning the enclosure of captive-bred grizzly bears at a Bozeman facility.
“This is a tragedy that could have—and should have—been prevented,” said Jeff Funke, the agency’s area director in Billings. “The use of a secondary holding area while cleaning cages is standard practice when working with animals capable of being dangerous to workers responsible for their care.”
OSHA cited Animals of Montana for one serious violation for allowing employees to have unrestricted, direct contact with grizzly bears
The company was also cited for one other-than-serious violation involving the failure to report an occupational fatality within eight hours.
The two citations carry a total of $9,000 in proposed fines.
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