Outlet Boxes Recalled Due to Overheating

Southwire is recalling Garvin Pop-Up Floor Box Kits with a finish of either stainless steel or brushed brass and two electrical receptacles and two USB ports. The pop-up electrical outlet boxes are designed to be installed into floors with a metal lid that opens and closes to reveal the electrical receptacles and USB ports. Southwire has received three reports of the floor boxes overheating. No injuries have been reported.

 

If you have any of these outlet boxes, you should immediately unplug any electrical devices from the units, discontinue their use and contact Southwire for a full refund.

 

The outlet boxes were sold online at garvinindustries.com, acdcusa.com, cesco.com, gordonelectricsupply.com, platt.com and usesi.com from January 2016 through August 2018 for about $90.

 

For additional information, contact Southwire toll-free at 888-803-0492 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, or online at www.garvinindustries.com or www.southwire.com and click on “Product Recall.”

 

 

Annual training is required by 40 CFR 262.17(a)(7). Learn how to manage your hazardous waste in accordance with the latest state and federal regulations.  Learn how to complete EPA’s new electronic hazardous waste manifest, and the more than 60 changes in EPA’s new Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule.  Environmental Resource Center’s Hazardous Waste Training is available at nationwide locations, and via live webcasts.  If you plan to also attend DOT hazardous materials training, call 800-537-2372 to find out how can get your course materials on a new Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet at no extra charge.

 

 

On August 20, 2019, the Washington Department of Labor and Industries adopted a final rule for Chapter 296-27 WAC Recordkeeping and reporting. The changes were adopted to ensure our rules are at least as effective as the OSHA. Once the new rule is effective on January 1, 2020, it will require certain employers (depending on size and industry type) to annually submit electronic injury and illness records to OSHA that they are already required to keep under the recordkeeping regulations. 

 

To ensure the completeness and accuracy of injury and illness data collected by employers and reported to OSHA, when the rule is effective it will also:

 

The links below provide additional information about this rule.

 

A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has awarded $1,047,399 in lost wages and punitive damages to two former employees of a Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania, manufacturer after a jury found the company and its owner fired them in retaliation for their participation in a federal safety investigation.

 

On April 2, 2019, a jury determined that Lloyd Industries Inc. and owner, William P. Lloyd, illegally fired the employees because they participated in a 2014 OSHA inspection. The inspection followed an incident in which one of the employees’ co-workers suffered the amputation of three fingers.

 

The company fired one of the employees after OSHA began an onsite investigation, and fired the second employee shortly after OSHA issued citations, and assessed Lloyd Industries with penalties. The acts of retaliation violated Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act). The court’s award of $500,000 in punitive damages is the largest punitive award ever under Section 11(c) of the OSH Act. The court justified the award in light of the defendants’ “deliberative flouting of the act.”

 

In addition to damages, the judge awarded the former employees $547,399 in front and back pay, prejudgment interest, and additional amounts to compensate for the adverse tax consequences of their receiving a large, one-time payment. The judge also ordered that Lloyd Industries and William P. Lloyd post an anti-retaliation notice at the plant immediately, and never again violate Section 11(c) of the OSH Act.

 

“The court recognized that all employees have a federally protected right to speak out against unsafe and unhealthy working conditions, to participate in U.S. Department of Labor investigations, and to be compensated if they are terminated in retaliation for exercising those rights,” said Regional Solicitor Oscar L. Hampton III, in Philadelphia. “The significant punitive damages sends a strong message to this employer and others that deliberately violating these laws will not be tolerated.”

 

OSHA has cited Choice Products USA LLC for continually exposing employees to machine  safety hazards at the cookie dough manufacturing facility in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The company faces $782,526 in penalties, and has been placed in the agency’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program.

 

OSHA cited Choice Products for five egregious willful violations for failing to implement and train employees on lockout/tagout procedures to prevent unintentional contact with machine operating parts during service and maintenance. Inspectors also determined that the company failed to install machine guarding, and comply with forklift regulations.

 

OSHA cited Choice Products for exposing employees to similar machine hazards following an October 2016 inspection.

 

“The company managers developed comprehensive lockout/tagout procedures following the 2016 inspection but failed to implement their own safety program,” said OSHA Acting Regional Administrator William Donovan. “Employers are required by law to provide workers with safe and healthful workplaces.”

 

“Worker safety should be an employer’s top priority every day they’re open for business,” OSHA Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Loren Sweatt said. “Employers who do not comply with safety standards will continue to face the full enforcement of the law.”

 

OSHA offers compliance assistance resources on Safeguarding Equipment and Protecting Employees from Amputations and Control of Hazardous Energy – Lockout/Tagout.

 

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

 

OSHA has cited Five Star Roofing Systems Inc. – based in Hartford City, Indiana – for exposing employees to fall hazards while performing roofing work at a commercial building site in Lake Barrington, Illinois. The company faces $220,249 in penalties for repeated fall protection violations.

 

OSHA inspectors cited the company for willful, repeated, and serious safety violations for failing to provide head, eye, face and fall protection; improper use of warning lines during low-sloped roof construction; lack of guards on belts and pulleys; unsafe use of ladder; and failing to designate a safety monitor.

 

“This company has violated required safety standards repeatedly and placed employees at risk for serious injuries,” said OSHA’s Chicago North Area Director Angeline Loftus. “Employers must develop and implement safety procedures on every jobsite to ensure that employees are protected from falls and other workplace safety hazards.”

 

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

 

 

OSHA has cited J.H. Berra Construction Co. – based in St. Louis, Missouri – for exposing employees to excavation hazards at a residential construction site in Saint Charles, Missouri. The company faces penalties of $143,206.

 

OSHA opened an investigation after inspectors observed employees working in an inadequately protected trench. OSHA alleges that J.H. Berra Construction Co. failed to use a protective system in an excavation, exposing employees to struck-by and engulfment hazards, and failed to ensure a competent person conducted daily inspections for hazards prior to allowing employees to enter a trench.

 

OSHA cited the company for one willful and two serious citations for failing to protect employees from cave-in hazards following its February 14, 2019, investigation.

 

“Trench collapses and cave-ins pose a serious threat to workers’ lives, but the risks can be prevented by complying with safety requirements that exist to protect workers,” said OSHA St. Louis Area Director Bill McDonald.

 

OSHA recently updated the National Emphasis Program on preventing trenching and excavation collapses, and developed a series of compliance assistance resources to help keep workers safe from these hazards. The agency’s trenching and excavation webpage provides additional information on trenching hazards and solutions. The page includes a trenching operations QuickCard on protecting workers around trenches, and the "Protect Workers in Trenches" poster that provides a quick reminder of the three ways to prevent dangerous trench collapses.

 

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

 

OSHA has cited Midwest Excavating LLC for exposing employees to trench cave-in hazards at a jobsite in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The company faces penalties of $58,343.

 

OSHA initiated an inspection of the jobsite after receiving a complaint of employees allegedly working in an inadequately protected trench. Inspectors determined that there was a potential for a trench collapse due to the presence of water, vertical walls, and a depth greater than seven feet. OSHA cited Midwest Excavating for one willful and one serious citation for failing to protect employees from cave-in hazards.

 

“OSHA regulations require the use of trench protective systems in all trenches deeper than five feet,” said Sheila Stanley, Sioux Falls Area Director. “Employers can prevent a cave-in by sloping, shoring, or shielding trench walls.”

 

OSHA recently updated the National Emphasis Program on preventing trenching and excavation collapses, and developed a series of compliance assistance resources to help keep workers safe from these hazards. The agency’s trenching and excavation webpage provides additional information on trenching hazards and solutions. The page includes a trenching operations QuickCard on protecting workers around trenches, and the "Protect Workers in Trenches" poster that provides a quick reminder of the three ways to prevent dangerous trench collapses.

 

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

 

OSHA cited L N Framing Inc. for failing to ensure that employees used a fall protection system while installing roof trusses and interior framing on the second floor of a residential home under construction in Jacksonville, Florida. The residential and commercial framing contractor faces $58,343 in penalties.

 

OSHA conducted the inspection in conjunction with the Regional Emphasis Program on Falls in Construction. The Agency has inspected L N Framing Inc. twice since 2015, with each previous inspection resulting in a citation under the residential fall protection standard.

 

“L N Framing Inc. has failed to enforce the proper use of ladders and fall protection at their worksites, endangering the lives of their workers,” said OSHA Area Director Michelle Gonzalez, in Jacksonville, Florida.