As residents of the Gulf Coast recover from the impact of Hurricane Isaac, OSHA urges workers and members of the public engaged in cleanup activities to be aware of the hazards they might encounter and the necessary steps they should take to protect themselves.
Cleanup work can involve restoring electricity, communications, water, and sewer services; demolition activities; removal of floodwater from structures; entry into flooded areas; cleaning up debris; tree trimming; structural, roadway, bridge, dam, and levee repair; use of cranes, aerial lifts, and other heavy equipment; hazardous waste operations; and emergency response activities.
Inherent hazards may include illness from exposure to contaminated water or food, exposure to the elements, and heat stress, downed electrical wires, carbon monoxide, and electrical hazards from portable generators, fall, and struck-by hazards from tree trimming or working at heights, being caught in unprotected excavations or confined spaces, burns, lacerations, musculoskeletal injuries, being struck by traffic or heavy equipment, and drowning from being caught in moving water or while removing water from flooded structures.
Protective measures should involve evaluating the work area for all hazards; task-specific hazard exposure monitoring; using engineering or work practice controls to mitigate hazards; using personal protective equipment; assuming all power lines are live; following proper hygiene procedures; using portable generators, saws, ladders, vehicles, and other equipment correctly; and using proper precautions in traffic work zones.
Labor Rights Week 2012
Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis issued the following statement in recognition of Labor Rights Week, August 27–31:
“This year’s theme, Promoting Labor Rights is Everyone’s Responsibility, underscores the importance of partnerships between the Labor Department and other countries to educate migrant workers and their employers about US labor laws.
“Making America’s workplaces safe and fair for everyone is the hallmark of Labor Rights Week. We’re committed to ensuring that workers are safe on the job and paid what they’re owed by law. This means no one can be paid less than $7.25 an hour. It means overtime must be paid for each hour above 40 a week. And it means that employers must provide a safe workplace.”
How to Prepare for OSHA’s Globally Harmonized Hazard Communication Standard (GHS)
How to Author GHS Safety Data Sheets
How to Label Hazardous Chemicals Using OSHA’s New GHS Hazcom Standard
Charlotte RCRA and DOT Training
Houston RCRA and DOT Training
Columbus RCRA and DOT Training
2012 Safety Summit: A System that Works
EnPro Industries, Inc., two-time award winner of EHS Today’s America’s Safest Company Award and winner of the Liberty Mutual Safety Excellence Gold Award, in conjunction with Environmental Resource Center, Inc., will be hosting a Safety Summit at the Hilton Columbia Center, Columbia, South Carolina, October 2–3, 2012.
“We have had a lot of success and created a passion with our proven safety practices because our focus has been at cultural level,” says Joe Wheatley, director of risk management and EHS affairs. “Every employee in the company participates in a safety pledge to renew their personal and public commitments toward safety. We spend a tremendous amount of energy across the company recognizing the positive accomplishments and safety ethic of our employees. We constantly look for ways to increase our safety awareness, and every new employee is immediately introduced to our high safety ethic.” Safety, he adds, “makes for a great place to work.”
This conference will help your organization move from a reactive to a proactive organization, preventing injuries and illnesses before they happen. Learn how to drive manufacturing safety systems and build a strong safety culture that builds morale, productivity, and profits.
Attend this conference to gain the tools you need to improve your company’s safety performance, including:
- How to build your organization’s Safety Plan
- Visionary Safety: How to improve on Management Commitment and Accountability
- Importance and impact of Behavior Based Safety
- How to identify and trigger on key injuries related to your organization
- How to engage, involve, and empower employees to take ownership and responsibility
- Motivation and morale of employees in the workforce
- Skill set training needed for safety sustainability
- How to develop a process to capture leading and lagging indicators (Goal Setting and Metrics)
- Tools needed to improve on methodology and continuous improvement with all EHS Standards/Programs
- Committee-Based Safety Systems, Safety Stand Downs, SafetyFirst Kickoff/Mid-year Events, Family Safety Day, Safety Leadership Training, Recognition/Incentive Programs, Escorting injured employees and 24 Hour Reporting, Job Hazard Analysis (JHA), Personal Protective Equipment Assessment, Risk Assessments, and “Best Practice” Standards.
”Safety is a core value. We recognize that all injuries are preventable and our motivation is our genuine caring about the well-being of others,” says CEO Steve Macadam. “Our ultimate vision is a culture where employees look out for each other in the workplace and carry their safety practices home at the end of every day and we have made great progress in creating this culture. We have developed a comprehensive playbook for our safety practices and our team is relentless in executing these practices.”
You will not want to miss this highly informative and inspirational program.
Safety Consultant/Trainer
Environmental Resource Center has a new opening for a safety consultant and auditor. We are looking for a former OSHA CSHO, OSHA trainer, or state inspector for this position in our Cary, North Carolina, office. Applicants should have excellent writing and speaking skills and be willing to travel 5–10 days per month. We are looking for an expert in all of the General Industry standards who is capable of performing audits of industrial facilities, developing computer based training programs, and conducting on-site training.
Strong consideration will be given to applicants who also have experience providing Hazwoper, hazard communication, lockout/tagout, confined spaces, and machine guarding training.
The position includes maintenance of training materials (books and presentations), working on consulting projects, development of classes and computer-based training programs, and ensuring customer satisfaction.
OSHA Extends Temporary Enforcement Measures in Residential Construction
OSHA will extend for three months its temporary enforcement measures in residential construction. The temporary enforcement measures, now extended through December 15, 2012, include priority free on-site compliance assistance, penalty reductions, extended abatement dates, measures to ensure consistency, and increased outreach. Fatalities from falls are the number one cause of workplace death in construction.
OSHA has been working closely with the industry to assist employers in complying with the new directive. Since October 1, 2011, OSHA’s On-site Consultation Projects performed more than 2,500 on-site visits, conducted 925 training sessions, and delivered 438 presentations related to fall protection in residential construction. OSHA’s regional and area offices also conducted more than 800 outreach activities on the directive. The Agency will continue to work with employers to ensure a clear understanding of, and to facilitate compliance with, the new policy.
OSHA will also continue to develop materials to assist the industry, including a wide variety of educational and training materials to assist employers with compliance, which are available on the website for residential construction and the Fall Prevention Campaign.
OSHA and NSC Renew Alliance to Address Fall Prevention, Injury, and Illness Prevention Programs
OSHA has renewed its Alliance with the National Safety Council (NSC) to continue enhancing worker safety and health by addressing construction hazards, injury, and illness prevention programs and motor vehicle safety.
“Our continued alliance with NSC will focus on, among other things, preventing worker injuries and fatalities from falls in construction,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health David Michaels. “Falls cause more fatalities than any other hazard in the construction industry. We look forward to collaborating with the NSC to educate and train employers and workers on preventing job hazards.”
During the two-year agreement, the Alliance will develop fact sheets on the benefits of employers establishing an injury and illness prevention program, hazard identification, and control topics that should be included in worker training, fall prevention, and best practices for reporting near misses. The Alliance will also develop a case study on preventing falls from heights in construction, focusing on the causes of fall protection failures and how employers can assure an effective and reliable fall prevention program.
NSC is a non-profit, public service organization, founded in 1913, that offers training, educational programs and materials, consulting, and advocacy on various safety and health topics. The organization represents 14,000 employers and more than six million workers employed by NSC members.
The purpose of each alliance is to develop compliance assistance tools and resources, and educate workers and employers about their rights and responsibilities. Alliance Program participants do not receive exemptions from OSHA inspections or any other enforcement benefits.
MSHA Announces Results of July Impact inspections
The monthly inspections, which began in force in April 2010 following the explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine, involve mines that merit increased agency attention and enforcement due to their poor compliance history or particular compliance concerns, including high numbers of violations or closure orders; frequent hazard complaints or hotline calls; plan compliance issues; inadequate workplace examinations; a high number of accidents, injuries, or illnesses; fatalities; and adverse conditions such as increased methane liberation, faulty roof conditions, and inadequate ventilation.
As an example from last month, MSHA conducted an impact inspection on July 17 at Rebco Coal Inc.’s, Valley Mine No. 1 during the day shift. MSHA personnel captured and monitored the communication systems to prevent advance notification of the inspection. MSHA issued 54 citations and nine orders on the day of the inspection, followed by five more 104(b) withdrawal orders for the operator’s failure to abate the outstanding violations.
Inspectors found violations related to inadequate examinations, the mine’s ventilation plan, and the maintenance of electric equipment. The operator failed to conduct pre-shift examinations of the belt conveyor entry prior to miners working and traveling in the area, as well as adequate on-shift examinations of the belt conveyor entries. Inspectors also found that the operator did not properly maintain electric face equipment and failed to conduct adequate electrical examinations. These cited conditions were extensive, having existed over several weekly electrical examinations, and posed serious dangers to miners.
The continuous mining machine was found cutting coal on the wrong side in conflict with the approved ventilation plan, and the area had only a third of the required amount of ventilation. Several water sprays on the machine were functioning with only half of the required water pressure, and the ventilation curtain used was not properly placed. Proper ventilation and controls for methane and respirable coal mine dust must be in place to prevent mine explosions and black lung disease.
Inspectors issued a failure-to-abate order during the impact inspection because the operator had not removed accumulations of combustible materials such as empty rock dust bags, empty wooden pallets, garbage in three crosscuts along the intake roadway, and small trash piles at various crosscuts along the intake. The accumulation of the combustible materials standard has been cited 24 times in a two-year period at this mine. Five other failure-to-abate orders were issued because the operator had not corrected violations on the roof bolting machine’s automated temporary roof support systems, section power center, roof bolter, and fire suppression systems. Inspectors also observed two faulty circuit breakers and a broken receptacle latch on the power center, and six defects on the roof bolter. This impact inspection was the second conducted by MSHA at this mine which, effective August 10, entered into nonproducing status.
“Mine operators have an obligation under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act to conduct thorough examinations of workplaces and equipment to find and fix hazards to protect miners,” said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. “A failure to do so can expose miners to injury, illness, and death. MSHA takes these failures to comply seriously and, on August 6, issued new rules requiring more thorough operator examinations.”
As a second example from last month, MSHA conducted another impact inspection on July 17 at Cobalt Coal Corp., Mining Inc.’s, Westchester Mine in McDowell County, West Virginia. The inspection party captured the phones to prevent advance notice of the inspection. Inspectors issued 47 enforcement actions, including one imminent danger order, 39 citations, six unwarrantable failure orders, and one safeguard. This impact inspection was the mine’s first.
An imminent danger order was issued when stray electrical current was detected on the frame of the section power center and the No. 2 shuttle car. The operator was cited for failing to maintain the underground electrical system in a safe operating condition. In total, 15 citations and orders were issued for not maintaining face equipment in permissible condition, as well as violations relating to electric equipment, trailing cables, grounding, and underground high voltage distribution. The stray electrical current and other cited hazards could have electrocuted or seriously injured miners.
Westchester Mine also failed to conduct weekly examinations on the roof bolter, complete the examination of the conveyor belt in its entirety, and perform adequate examinations of the alternate escapeway between the belt drive and the working section. The inspectors observed hazardous conditions on the directional lifeline and tripping/stumbling hazards in the walkway directly under the lifeline. These conditions should have been discovered during examinations and then corrected to provide miners with safe passage in the alternate escapeway during a mine emergency and while working underground.
The operator also was cited for violations of standards covering roof and rib control, fire suppression, and ventilation. Of 17 ventilation violations, one was not following the approved ventilation/methane dust control plan where the air quantity in the last open crosscut was approximately one-fourth of what is required. Inspectors found water accumulation up to 11 inches deep in the primary intake escapeway for a distance of 40 feet in an area with a mining height of 58 inches. These conditions, if left uncorrected, affect the effectiveness of the mine’s ventilation system to control and remove methane, respirable dust, and other contaminants from the miners’ working environment.
Since April 2010, MSHA has conducted 477 impact inspections, which have resulted in a total of 8,545 citations, 852 orders, and 36 safeguards.
Norfolk Southern Railway Co. Ordered to Pay More Than $932,000 after Illegally Terminating Injured Workers
OSHA has found that Norfolk Southern Railway Co., violated the whistleblower protection provisions of the Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRSA) and consequently has ordered the company to pay two whistleblowers $932,070.46 in damages, including $387,813.75 in punitive damages and attorney’s fees. Additionally, the company has been ordered to expunge the disciplinary records of the whistleblowers, post workplace notices regarding railroad employees’ whistleblower protection rights, and provide training to its employees about these rights.
The investigations revealed reasonable cause to believe that the employees’ reporting of their workplace injuries led to internal investigations and, ultimately, dismissals from the company.
An investigation by OSHA upheld allegations made by a utility switchman based in Decatur, Illinois, that he was terminated August 28, 2009, after reporting an injury to his shoulder on June 24, 2009. The injury occurred while the switchman was riding a train that derailed during a shove movement of cars in the Decatur yard. Norfolk Southern alleged that the employee provided false or conflicting information regarding his injury, even though the investigative hearing and exhibits failed to show any conflict with the switchman reporting this injury. In April 2010, the Special Board of Adjustments reinstated the switchman with back pay, after a total loss of 10 months’ wages, of which the company has repaid a portion.
OSHA has ordered the railroad to pay a total of $581,438.11, including $350,000 in compensatory damages for pain and suffering, $150,000 in punitive damages, $55,000 in attorney’s fees, and $26,438.11 in back wages and benefits. The company also has been ordered to reinstate the switchman to the proper seniority level, with vacation and sick days that would have been earned and credit of 10 months toward a Railroad Retirement Board Pension.
In Melvindale, Michigan, OSHA’s investigation upheld the allegations of a trackman who had worked at the company for 31 years that he was terminated August 12, 2009, after Norfolk Southern alleged he made false statements regarding his injuries to receive time off. The trackman alleged he was injured while traveling from the Melvindale Terminal to a job site in Raisin Center, Michigan, on July 6, 2009. The vehicle in which he was riding hit a rough patch of road, causing him to strike his head on the roof of the truck, resulting in a diagnosis of whiplash at a local medical facility. OSHA’s investigation determined that the trackman’s injury has caused severe medical problems involving his back, neck, and shoulders, which restrict his ability to sit, stand, walk, and operate machinery.
OSHA’s order requires the company to reinstate the trackman if he is medically released by his physician and passes a functional capacity evaluation, and to pay him a total of $350,632.35, including compensatory damages of $150,000, punitive damages of $150,000, attorney’s fees of $32,813.75, and medical and dental expenses in the amount of $17,818.60, which would have been covered by employee health insurance if he had not been terminated. The trackman has been unable to work since July 2009 and collected sick benefits until January 1, 2010, when he began collecting Railroad Disability benefits; thus, back wages have not been ordered.
These actions follow several other orders issued by OSHA against Norfolk Southern Railway Co., in the past year. OSHA’s investigations have found that the company continues to retaliate against employees for reporting work-related injuries and has effectively created a chilling effect in the railroad industry.
Any party to these cases can file an appeal with the Labor Department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges within 30 days of receipt of the findings.
Norfolk Southern Railway Co., is a major transporter/hauler of coal and other commodities, serving every major container port in the eastern US with connections to western carriers. Its headquarters are in Norfolk, Virginia, and it employs more than 30,000 union workers worldwide.
OSHA conducted the investigation under the whistleblower provisions of the FRSA. Railroad carriers are subject to the FRSA, which protects employees who report violations of any federal law, rule, or regulation relating to railroad safety or security, or who engage in other protected activities.
On July 16, OSHA and the DOT’s Federal Railroad Administration signed a memorandum of agreement to facilitate coordination and cooperation for enforcing the FRSA’s whistleblower provisions. Between 2007 and 2012 to date, OSHA has received more than 900 whistleblower complaints under the FRSA. More than 60% have involved an allegation that a worker was retaliated against for reporting an on-the-job injury.
OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the FRSA and 21 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health care reform, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, maritime, and securities laws. 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 to request an investigation by OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program.
Trucking Company Ordered to Reinstate Whistleblower, Pay $315,000 in Back Wages and Damages
OSHA has ordered M3 Transport LLC/SLT Expressway Inc., and its successors-in-interest, Lyons Capital LLC, and the Roadmaster Group in Glendale, to reinstate a former employee and pay $280,000 in back wages and interest, $15,000 in compensatory damages, and $20,000 in punitive damages.
The order follows OSHA’s determination that the company violated the whistleblower provisions of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA) when it terminated the truck driver in February 2010 in retaliation for complaining to management about safety issues and refusing to drive a truck containing explosives with a co-driver who smoked in the vehicle—a violation of DOT regulations.
OSHA opened a whistleblower investigation upon receiving a complaint from the terminated employee. The complaint alleged that on February 8, 2010, the employee was informed that a new co-driver had been assigned to haul a vehicle full of explosives to Canada. Upon finding an ashtray overflowing with cigarette butts in the new co-driver’s truck, the employee notified supervisors that driving with this individual would be unacceptable because smoking while hauling explosives violates federal regulations. The employee was then told by management to go home and wait to be reassigned a new co-driver. Two days later, the employee was terminated.
In addition to reinstatement and compensation for the employee, the order issued by OSHA requires the trucking company to expunge any adverse references relating to the discharge from the complainant’s personnel records, and post a notice for all employees notifying them of their rights under the STAA.
M3 Transport LLC/SLT Expressway Inc., now operating as the Roadmaster Group, specializes in transporting explosives for military and defense contractors, as well as heavy hauling.
Wenco Energy Cited with Repeat and Serious Violations Based on Follow-Up Inspection
Workers exposed to unguarded saws, other hazards; proposed fines exceed $167,000
OSHA has cited Wenco Energy Corp., in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with 23 serious and eight repeat safety and health violations, including exposure to unguarded saws and sanders, at the company’s manufacturing facility. OSHA initiated an inspection in February as a follow-up to a September 2010 inspection that was conducted after a worker was killed at the facility. Proposed penalties total $167,090.
. Serious health violations include failing to provide personal protective equipment for workers’ eyes, hands, and feet; provide eyewash stations; and properly store compressed gas cylinders. 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.
A repeat health violation is failing to develop a hazard assessment for personal protective equipment. 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. OSHA cited similar violations based on the 2010 inspection.
Wenco Energy employs about 32 workers.
Koswire Cited for Willful and Serious Violations Following Worker Fatality
OSHA has cited Koswire Inc., with 19 safety and health violations, including one willful, following the death of a worker who became caught in moving wire and was pulled into rotating rolls at the company’s facility in Flowery Branch, Georgia.
OSHA initiated an inspection March 3 in response to the fatality. The willful violation is failing to provide machine guarding to protect operators and other workers from hazards created by ingoing pinch points and rotating parts on equipment throughout the plant. 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.
Additionally, OSHA identified fall hazards and found that the company did not provide equipment guarding on pulleys or horizontal and vertical belts.
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.
The program focuses on recalcitrant employers that endanger workers by committing willful, repeat, or failure-to-abate violations.
The citations for the willful and serious violations carry $145,530 in proposed penalties. The citations for the other-than-serious violations do not carry monetary penalties.
Korea-based Koswire draws steel wire that is later used for the production of springs in various products such as pens and spray cans.
Sawmill Cited for Safety Violations; More Than $128,000 Proposed in Fines
OSHA opened an inspection upon receiving a complaint alleging that workers had been injured at the sawmill. Proposed penalties total $128,700.
Twenty-five serious violations involve failing to ensure that workers are protected from fall hazards by providing standard guardrails, include workers in a fully implemented respiratory protection program, provide adequate personal protective equipment, provide an eyewash and emergency shower station, implement a comprehensive energy control program, and guard machines. The citations carry penalties of $80,190.
Additionally, two repeat violations are failing to guard augers in the boiler room and ensure that the shaft ends on stackers are guarded. The citations carry penalties of $48,510. Similar violations were cited in February 2011.
Plains Gas Solutions Cited Following Explosion That Severely Injured Worker
OSHA began its investigation February 29 at the company’s facility on Fournat Road in Eunice, which specializes in the production of liquid natural gas through a cryogenic process. The incident occurred while employees were restarting the process. Cryogenic liquids were improperly routed through equipment not rated to withstand extreme cold temperatures, resulting in the explosion and fire.
“Process safety management prevents the unexpected release of toxic, reactive, or flammable liquids and gases in processes involving highly hazardous chemicals,” said Dorinda Folse, OSHA’s area director in Baton Rouge. “The terrible incident that occurred at this facility could have been prevented had the company adhered to OSHA’s standards.”
The willful violation is for failing to conduct an analysis of pre-startup safety conditions and systematically managing changes to process-related technology, equipment, procedures, and facilities.
Serious violations include failing to ensure the accuracy of process safety and provide a process hazard analysis addressing low temperature deviations, ensure that operating procedures are kept current, complete incident investigation reports, and establish a consistent method of documenting changes in the process.
Plains Gas Solutions is a subsidiary of Houston, Texas-based Plains All American Pipeline LP, which employs about 3,800 workers in Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Proposed penalties total $111,000.
Tyson Foods Cited for Willful and Serious Violations After Worker Fatality
The mechanic was performing maintenance work beneath a piece of equipment that had been secured in an elevated position by a chain and quick link, but the chain failed and the equipment crushed the mechanic. A willful violation was cited for ineffective periodic safety equipment inspections and failing to make necessary modifications to the worker safety protection process through the inspections.
Five serious violations involve failing to provide protective equipment for working with chemicals, use tags when lockout devices are not available for equipment, use suitable energy isolation devices for the work environment, train authorized workers on using lockout/tagout devices to control the energy sources of equipment, and provide comprehensive training on hazard communication.
Additionally, one other-than-serious violation is failing to have a competent person certify the hazard assessment.
Tyson Foods Inc., is headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, and is one of the world’s largest processors and marketers of chicken, beef, and pork, as well as prepared foods. The company employs about 115,000 workers at more than 400 facilities and offices in the US and around the world. Approximately 3,500 workers are employed at the Dakota City facility.
Proposed penalties total $104,200, for the citations.
OSHA Cites Contractor for Continuing to Expose Workers to Falls and Other Hazards
OSHA has cited Brick, New Jersey-based La Conti Concrete & Masonry Inc., for nine safety and health, including two repeat, violations at a Secaucus, New Jersey, work site. OSHA’s March investigation was initiated in response to an imminent danger complaint alleging employees were working on the fifth level of a supported scaffold without fall protection. Proposed penalties total $74,830.
The repeat safety violations, with a $53,900 penalty, involve failing to provide safe access to a scaffold and ensure workers were not exposed to a 35-foot fall while working on an unguarded scaffold. The company was cited for similar violations in 2006, 2007, and 2011.
Six serious safety and health violations, with a $20,930 penalty, include failing to properly store propane tanks; ensure a competent person inspected a scaffold before employees worked on it; establish and implement a written respiratory protection program for workers required to wear respirators, including medical evaluations, and respiratory protection training; develop and implement an effective written hazard communication program for workers exposed to hazardous chemicals, including crystalline silica; provide chemical hazard training to employees working with hazardous chemicals; and maintain material safety data sheets.
The company also has received one other-than-serious violation, with no penalty, for failure to provide respirator fit testing and evaluate employees for safe use of powered industrial truck.
La Conti Concrete & Masonry Inc. employed 34 workers at the Secaucus work site.
Precision Steel Services Cited with 11 Safety Violations
OSHA has cited Toledo, Ohio-based Precision Steel Services Inc., with 11 safety violations, including a repeat violation for failing to remove from service a forklift that was in need of repair. Proposed penalties total $66,330.
Similar violations were cited in 2009 at the same facility.
Nine serious violations also have been cited. These include failing to protect workers from falls on elevated workspaces, provide lockout/tagout procedures, properly inspect forklifts, ensure forklift brakes were set when parked, provide electrical safe work training and utilize electrical personal protective equipment.
An other-than-serious violation has been cited for failing to mark lockout/tagout devices with an employee identifier.
Precision Steel Services Inc., a steel processor, has had five previous OSHA inspections, three of which have occurred since 2009 and resulted in citations for seven serious violations involving personal protective equipment, forklifts, mechanical equipment in disrepair, and a lack of guarding on portable power tools.
H. Nagel and Son Co. Flour Mill Cited With 23 Violations for Exposing Workers to Hazards
OSHA has cited H. Nagel and Sons Co., for a total of 23 safety and health, including two repeat, violations related to OSHA’s respirator and machine guarding standards. The company faces total proposed penalties of $62,090 following an inspection of its Brookville, Ohio, flour mill and mix facility, which was initiated by OSHA in May under the agency’s local emphasis program on grain handling operations.
One repeat health violation is failing to provide workers with information on respirator standards, and one repeat safety violation is failing to properly guard vertical and inclined belts. Similar violations were cited in 2011 at the company’s Cincinnati facility.
Fifteen serious safety violations include failing to guard floor openings, provide fall protection for employees working on top of a roof, provide specific lockout/tagout energy control procedures, guard machines, and provide a confined space entry permit to workers who enter bins for cleaning purposes. Other safety violations involve electrical safety standards such as using damaged extension cords. One serious health violation is failing to train workers on the hazards of pesticides used in the facility.
Five other-than-serious safety violations involve failing to identify and place hazard warnings on containers, have a competent person inspect the belt manlift every 30 days, provide portable fire extinguisher training and mark an exit with a sign.
H. Nagel and Sons Co., employs about 10 workers at its Brookville facility. This inspection was OSHA’s first at the Brookville location, but the company’s Cincinnati facility has been inspected six times since 1983, resulting in several citations.
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