At a March 10 meeting of the American Bar Association, David Michaels, the new Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health identified the agency’s priorities under his administration.
First and foremost, Michaels said, “We will emphasize strong enforcement—as evidenced in our record-breaking $84.7 million citation against BP Texas City, and the sharp increase in our egregious cases.”
According to Michaels, more initiatives are coming. In the last fiscal year he said that OSHA filed four egregious cases; in the last quarter, they initiated seven. If the threat of a fine isn’t enough, Michaels said, “We have other ways to drive home the point that employers need to obey the law.”
Michaels said that strong enforcement provides a strong preventive purpose. He pointed out:
- The credible threat of enforcement also makes most employers think twice about cutting back on preventive maintenance, training or investments in safer working conditions.
- The fear of a serious citation and heavy fine should make employers consider the consequences of cutting corners on safety to meet a deadline.
- And the threat of strong enforcement can encourage employers to seek out a safety consultant or use the free services of our On-site Consultation Program.
He said that we can expect to see OSHA moving, to the extent it can, toward higher penalties, not only to send a message to those employers who neglect their workplace responsibilities, but also to those employers who need reminding that a safe workplace is not something to think about only when it’s convenient—when you have the time and money—but every day.
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OSHA Extends Deadline for Submitting Comments on Recordkeeping Proposed Rule
OSHA has extended the comment period on the proposed rule to revise the Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting (Recordkeeping) regulation to March 30, 2010.
OSHA published a proposed rule to revise its Recordkeeping regulation on January 29, 2010. The proposal would restore a column to the OSHA 300 Log that employers would use to record work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). The proposed rule will not change existing requirements for when and under what circumstances employers must record MSDs on their injury and illness logs.
Four stakeholders requested an extension of the comment period, in part because of the severe February snowstorms that shut down workplaces for more than a week. The 15-day deadline extension ensures that stakeholders have a full 60 days to submit comments on the limited rulemaking.
If submitting comments by regular or express mail, hand delivery or messenger, send three copies to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. OSHA-2009-0044, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-2625, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C., 20210. Comments up to 10 pages may be faxed to the OSHA Docket Office at 202-693-1648.
Noncontact Electrical Tester Recalled by Fluke Due to Shock or Burn Hazard
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Fluke Corporation announced a voluntary recall of certain Fluke VoltAlert® Voltage Detectors.
The testers can fail to give an indication of live voltage, resulting in the operator falsely believing the electrical power is off, posing a risk of serious injury or death from electrical shock or thermal burns.
The Fluke voltage testers look like a pen with a yellow, white, and gray body. The testers measure 90 to 1000 volts alternating current (VAC). “Fluke” and the model number 1AC-A1-I are printed on the front of each unit. These devices were sold at industrial distributors and electrical wholesalers nationwide from September 2009 through February 2010 for about $25.
According to CPSC and the manufacturer, you should stop using the recalled product immediately and contact Fluke toll-free at 888-983-5853 for a free replacement.
OSHA Proposes $178,800 Fine for Cave-in Hazards
Responding to a complaint of potentially unsafe conditions at a synagogue under construction in Newton, Massachusetts, OSHA found that employees of Telsi Builders, the project’s Newton-based general contractor, and its concrete subcontractor, Ocean State Forms Inc., of Cumberland, Rhode Island, were working in excavations up to 14 ft deep that lacked protection against a collapse of their sidewalls.
“Workers at this site were needlessly exposed to cave-in hazards on multiple occasions,” said Paul Mangiafico, OSHA’s area director for Middlesex and Essex counties. “In one instance, had the unprotected 14-foot high excavation wall collapsed, it would have engulfed workers pouring concrete formwork and crushed them beneath tons of concrete as well as soil and debris.”
The cave-in hazards were exacerbated by the placement of excavated spoils at the edge of excavations and the lack of a safe means of exiting the excavations. Workers for both contractors also risked impalement on unguarded protruding steel rebar, falls into uncovered 7 ft deep holes, and head injuries from a lack of protective helmets for workers in the excavations. In addition, Telsi employees were exposed to additional fall hazards from defective and uninspected ladders and while crossing over an excavation on a plank that lacked guardrails.
As a result of these conditions, Telsi Builders and Ocean State Forms both have been issued four willful citations, with $84,000 each in fines; Telsi has been issued four serious citations, with $7,200 in fines; and Ocean has been issued two serious citations, with $3,600 in fines. Telsi faces a total of $91,200 in fines, while Ocean State faces a total of $87,600. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for worker safety and health, while serious citations are issued when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from hazards about which the employer knew or should have known.
“With the coming of warmer weather and thawing of the soil, I urge employers to review their work practices, equipment and training to ensure that none of their employees enters an excavation unless and until it is properly guarded,” said Mangiafico. “Their workers’ lives could depend on it.”
OSHA Cites Pellet Mill for Combustible Dust and Other Hazards after Explosion
OSHA has cited Geneva Wood Fuels LLC for six alleged serious violations of workplace safety standards following an August 2009 explosion at the wood pellet manufacturing plant in Strong, Maine.
OSHA’s inspection found that the plant’s employees were exposed to potential dust explosions and fires stemming from deficiencies in the construction, design or location of the plant’s wood pellet processing system, the use of an unapproved spark-producing shop vacuum in a Class II, Division 2 location, and not training employees on specific work procedures to protect themselves from the explosive properties of wood dust.
“Combustible dust is a real and potentially deadly presence in many types of workplaces,” said William Coffin, OSHA’s area director for Maine. “Employers should not assume this hazard is minor or non-existent. Addressing it requires ongoing attention and effort, but proper precautions can prevent or minimize the possibility of a devastating explosion or fire.”
Combustible dusts, including wood dust, are fine particles that present a potentially catastrophic explosion hazard when suspended in the air in certain conditions. Since 1980, more than 130 workers have been killed and 780 injured in combustible dust explosions in a variety of industries across the nation. OSHA is working to develop a combustible dust standard.
OSHA’s inspection at Geneva Wood Fuels also found unapproved lifting devices, missing safety signs and missing guardrails. All told, the six serious citations are accompanied by $27,000 in proposed fines.
OSHA Cites Bowman’s Inc. Following Trenching Fatality
OSHA’s Boise Area Office has cited Bowman’s Inc. of Mountain Home, Idaho, for violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act related to unsafe working conditions in trenches, resulting in a fatality at a Pocatello, Idaho, worksite.
“Unprotected trenches can become deathtraps in an instant when cave-ins occur,” said Richard S. Terrill, OSHA’s regional administrator in Seattle. “This employer did not take the necessary steps to address hazards ahead of time and to educate employees on safe trench operations.”
OSHA’s investigation following the death of a pipe layer buried in a trench on September 16, 2009, found two alleged willful and three alleged serious violations.
The willful violations involve a foreman who was aware of the hazardous conditions and failed to act, and failing to provide cave-in protection for employees working outside the trench shield.
The alleged serious violations are for failing to protect workers exposed to an unsupported, exposed active gas line; failing to provide a ladder for access and exit of employees working outside of the trench shield; and improper use of the trench shield.
OSHA standards mandate that all excavations 5 ft or deeper be protected against collapse. .
Penalties total $44,500. Bowman’s Inc., has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director in Boise, Idaho, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
OSHA Cites Poultry Processing Plant for Safety and Health Hazards
OSHA cited the Allen Family Foods Inc., poultry processing facility in Harbeson, Maryland, for exposing workers to a variety of workplace safety hazards. Proposed penalties total $182,200.
OSHA initiated an investigation on September 9, 2009, in response to a referral made by Maryland Occupational Safety and Health after numerous serious and willful violations were issued at a similar processing facility in Maryland.
OSHA has cited the company with 45 serious violations and proposed a penalty of $182,000 and two other-than-serious violations with a proposed penalty of $200. The serious violations address hazards with industrial trucks, falls, personal protective equipment, machine guarding, electrical hazards, process safety management, respirators, and emergency response.
“It is vital that the company abate these hazards as quickly as possible to ensure that safety and health of workers at that facility are not at risk,” said Domenick Salvatore, director of OSHA’s Wilmington, Delaware, office.
Contractor Fined $139,500 for Hazardous Conditions at Barracks Worksite
OSHA has cited Hua Sheng International Group Corp., in Barrigada, Guam, for $139,500 in proposed penalties for hazardous working and living conditions at a jobsite and barracks in Harmon, Guam.
“The failure of employers to provide clean water to workers they are required to house can lead to serious infections and dehydration,” said Ken Nishiyama Atha, OSHA’s regional administrator in San Francisco. “We are vigorously enforcing the standards for adequate housing and safety for all workers, including H-2B temporary workers, especially as construction and other industries ramp up in support of the planned relocation of Marine Corps personnel and their dependents from Okinawa, Japan, to Guam.
OSHA has cited the company for one alleged willful violation and 28 alleged serious violations. The willful violation is for failing to provide workers with an adequate water supply for drinking, cooking, bathing, flushing, and laundry. The proposed penalty for the willful violation is $70,000.
The serious violations are for safety and health hazards related to poor living conditions at the employees’ barracks as well as at the worksite. Some include failing to maintain the fire alarm system; maintain toilet rooms in sanitary condition; install cooking and heating equipment to meet local ordinances codes and regulations; provide proper food-handling facilities and garbage containers; and provide first aid facilities and maintain a trained first aid person. The proposed penalty for the serious violations is $69,500.
OSHA cited this company six times in the two years prior to this inspection. Four of the inspections resulted in a total of nine serious violations.
OSHA Proposes More Than $3 Million in Fines to BP-Husky Refinery near Toledo
OSHA cited BP North American Inc., and BP-Husky Refining LLC’s refinery in Oregon, Ohio, with 42 alleged willful violations, including 39 on a per-instance basis, and 20 alleged serious violations for exposing workers to a variety of hazards including failure to provide adequate pressure relief for process units. Proposed penalties total $3,042,000.
“OSHA has found that BP often ignored or severely delayed fixing known hazards in its refineries,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “There is no excuse for taking chances with people’s lives. BP must fix the hazards now.”
OSHA began its inspection at the refinery located near Toledo, Ohio, in September 2009 as part of the agency’s Refinery National Emphasis Program and as a follow-up to a 2006 inspection and a 2007 settlement agreement between OSHA and BP at this location. Although the 2009 inspection found that BP had complied with the settlement agreement, OSHA found numerous violations at the plant not previously covered by the agreement.
The inspection revealed that workers were exposed to serious injury and death in the event of a release of flammable and explosive materials in the refinery because of numerous conditions constituting violations of OSHA’s process safety management standard. OSHA has issued willful citations for numerous failures to provide adequate pressure relief for process units, failures to provide safeguards to prevent the hazardous accumulation of fuel in process heaters, and exposing workers to injury and death from collapse of or damage, in the event of a fire, to nine buildings in the refinery. Additional willful citations allege various other violations of OSHA’s standard addressing process safety management. These citations carry proposed penalties totaling $2,940,000.
The serious citations address a variety of other hazards, including violations of other requirements of the process safety management standard. These carry proposed penalties totaling $102,000.
Since 1991, this refinery has been inspected 12 times. Nationally, BP Products North American has been inspected by OSHA 44 times at various sites and is facing pending cases in which 439 willful citations and failure-to-abate notices were issued to its Texas City Refinery as a result of a 2009 inspection. Proposed penalties in those pending cases total $87 million, the largest penalties by far ever proposed by OSHA. BP’s Texas City Refinery experienced a devastating explosion and fire in 2005 that killed 15 workers and injured 170. A large portion of the penalties proposed for the Texas City Refinery results from OSHA’s allegations that BP failed to fully live up to a settlement agreement entered into after the explosion. BP has contested the citations, notifications of failure-to-abate, and the proposed penalties in those cases.
OSHA Cites Chipco LLC in Following Fatality at Natural Gas Well Site
OSHA has cited Chipco LLC, a natural gas well salvage and capping business based in Zanesville, with two alleged willful and seven alleged serious violations of federal workplace safety standards following the death of a worker at a natural gas well site in Londonderry, Ohio.
The alleged willful violations cite the company’s failure to provide appropriate respiratory protection, assess the worksite for potential respiratory hazards and provide adequate training.
Serious violations also allege failure to provide training, along with eye protection, a written respiratory protection program, a written hazard communication program, and material safety data sheets (MSDSs) on hydrogen sulfide and other hazardous chemicals.
“Far too many times, we encounter tragedies of this nature that very well might have been avoided if the employer would simply have followed OSHA safety and health standards,” said Deborah Zubaty, OSHA’s area director in Columbus, Ohio.
Chipco has been in business since 1998 and has not previously been inspected by OSHA. Proposed penalties total $165,600.
Brian Karnofsky Jailed for Muscular Dystrophy, Jailers Blocked Bail Website
Brian has been arrested and will be put in jail for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) lock-up. We need to collect $2,000 for the MDA to help bail him out. Your tax deductible donation will help MDA continue research into the causes and cures for 43 neuromuscular diseases.
If you enjoy reading the Safety Tip of the Week™, now is the time to help us give hope to kids and families that need our help. Brian’s jailers broke his website link, thinking that they could keep him in jail indefinitely. However, the website has been fixed.
Brian is the President of Environmental Resource Center. Many of you helped bail him out in 2007, 2008, and 2009, but he’s on his way back to jail this year. Don’t bother asking what crimes he’s committed—just know that we need your help bailing him out.
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