Agency inspectors originally cited the institution with a willful violation for not requiring prison employees who perform pat-down and housing-unit searches to wear puncture-resistant gloves, exposing workers to sharps-related hazards. OSHA also cited the prison for repeat violations for not training workers on the use of sharps containers and not using puncture-resistant containers during collection and transport of potentially contaminated items found in prisoner searches. The agency found similar violations in 2014 and 2015.
OSHA conducted a follow-up inspection at FCI McDowell on September 2, 2015, to confirm the prison provided workers with puncture-resistant gloves for prisoner and housing-unit searches, after inspectors issued a notice for a willful violation earlier.
“Employees at Hazelton and McDowell need puncture-resistant gloves to avoid the unnecessary risk of puncture wounds from needles or other sharp objects that could be encountered during searches. These objects can expose workers to the dangers of infection by blood-borne pathogens like HIV or hepatitis,” said Prentice Cline, director of OSHA’s Charleston Area Office. “It only takes one cut or puncture wound for an employee to suffer a serious, life-altering health condition. Employers have a legal responsibility to ensure a safe and healthful workplace for prison employees.”
San Antonio RCRA and DOT Training
Jacksonville RCRA and DOT Training
New Orleans RCRA and DOT Training
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 safety data sheets.
Dollar General Store Cited for Entrapment and Fire Hazards
OSHA cited the company for the same violations at this location in March 2015.
The serious citation is related to entrapment hazards due to the employer not keeping the aisles leading to the exit doors unobstructed.
“Dollar General continues to expose workers to safety hazards previously identified at this location and found at other locations throughout the country,” said Christi Griffin, OSHA’s area director in the Atlanta-West Office. This is a clear indication that management is not sharing safety and health information throughout the corporation to protect its employees.”
Proposed penalties total $69,000. Dollar General has been inspected and cited approximately 52 times by OSHA in the last five years. The violations found include blocked exits and electrical panels and improperly maintained fire extinguishers.
Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. Fined $77,000 after Worker Injury at Processing Plant
OSHA initiated the investigation after learning that a 53-year-old machine operator suffered a severe injury as he attempted to reassemble a chicken-part separating machine. As he worked on the machine, it started unexpectedly and amputated the middle finger on his left hand up to the first joint.
“This worker’s unfortunate injury at Pilgrim’s Pride could have been easily prevented. Management knew that employees were exposed to amputation hazards from machinery that could startup unexpectedly, yet they did nothing to fix the problem,” said Ramona Morris, OSHA’s area director in Birmingham. “I am disappointed that management would allow these hazards to reoccur.”
Proposed penalties total $77,000.
OSHA Extends Public Comment Period on Guidance for Determining Potential Health Hazards of Chemicals
OSHA has extended the comment period for OSHA’s draft Guidance on Data Evaluation for Weight of Evidence Determination to May 2, 2016. OSHA published draft guidance on February 16.
The agency has received requests to extend the comment period to allow stakeholders more time to review this highly technical guidance and respond constructively to the questions that OSHA posed.
OSHA Says Managers at Lear Corp. Retaliated Against Workers for Reporting Safety Concerns
The suit follows an investigation by OSHA after three Renosol employees filed federal complaints. Based in Selma, Alabama, the company is a high- and low-volume foam manufacturer.
Filed on March 4 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama, Montgomery Division, the suit alleges that Lear discriminated against the employees by conducting retaliatory acts in violation of the OSH Act’s Section 11(c). The case is being litigated by the department’s Office of the Solicitor in Atlanta.
The suit seeks back wages, interest, and compensatory and punitive damages. Additionally, the suit seeks an order directing Lear to remove all references to this matter from the employee’s personnel records and barring Lear from future violations of the OSH Act.
The department’s action makes numerous allegations, including that the company harassed employees, reduced their overtime, segregated them from co-workers, suspended and later terminated one of the employees in retaliation for raising health concerns associated with exposure to toluene diisocyanate.
“Employees have the right to raise occupational safety and health concerns without the fear of retaliation,” said Kurt Petermeyer, OSHA’s regional administrator in Atlanta. “OSHA will continue to seek litigation for companies that violate the whistleblower provisions of the OSH Act to protect employees who report violations.”
OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the OSH Act and 21 other statutes, protecting employees who report violations of various securities, financial services, trucking, airline, nuclear power, pipeline, environmental, rail, maritime, health care, food safety, motor vehicle safety, workplace safety and health regulations, and consumer product safety laws.
Employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or to the government.
Worker Suffers Severe Injury when Hand is Caught in Machine at Safeway Packaging Inc.
OSHA investigated at the corrugated packaging company in New Bremen, Ohio, after a worker suffered a degloving injury of the left hand. The injury occurred when an air hose the employee was using to clean scrap away from a press, came into contact with a powered conveyor.
The federal agency cited the company for:
- Exposing workers to operating machinery parts during service and maintenance because locking devices were not used
“Each year, hundreds of workers suffer injury because employers fail to use and train workers on safety procedures,” said Kim Nelson, OSHA’s area director in Toledo. “Safeway Packaging was cited for similar violations in 2012. Employers with repeat violations demonstrate a lack of commitment to employee safety and concern for the well-being of their workers.”
Proposed penalties total $69,000.
Builder’s Failure to Follow Safety Standards Leads to Fatal Accident
When followed, safety standards save lives and painful injuries. In the construction industry, ignoring them can lead to disaster as it did for 54-year-old Gary Berthelot.
On September 8, 2015, at a site in Kiln, Mississippi, as workers poured concrete above, Berthelot and three workers employed by Great Southern Building Systems, LLC, were placing additional supports beneath the concrete form when it collapsed. Falling concrete and other debris struck and trapped the father of four, who had 30 years of construction experience and was the project’s general contractor. The other workers escaped the collapse as they rebuilt at a local restaurant damaged by Hurricane Isaac.
An investigation by OSHA later found the project’s original flooring plans called for a wood floor, but the contractors did not get new engineering plans for a concrete floor and used designs that could not support the weight of the concrete.
The agency waived the citations and penalties against Berthelot, as he was the company’s only employee.
“Great Southern Building Systems, LLC failed in its responsibility to protect its employees, despite being warned that the floor was unstable,” said Eugene Stewart, director of OSHA’s Jackson Area Office. “This tragedy could have been prevented had the employer obtained new engineering plans and followed the requirements.”
Pennsylvania Duct Manufacturer Fires Two Employees for Identifying, Documenting Machine Hazards
The company, a leading manufacturer of fire dampers and HVAC products, fired him immediately after the incident.
Four months later, OSHA received a safety complaint from the injured employee and the agency opened an inspection. On November 18, 2014, five days after it began, company owner William P. Lloyd fired a worker he suspected to be a “rat” who had assisted the injured employee by providing him with pictures of the unguarded machine. In fact, the employee had taken photographs of the unguarded machine that caused the amputation, other areas of the shop and of employees operating unguarded machines. He shared those pictures with the injured man.
In May 11, 2015, the federal agency issued citations to the company with total penalties of $822,000. That day, Lloyd fired the plant’s manager because he believed the manager had cooperated with OSHA and provided damaging information during the inspection.
In response, the U.S. Department of Labor filed suit against Lloyd Industries Inc., and owner William P. Lloyd on March 8, 2016, seeking to have the employees reinstated and compensated for lost wages and damages.
“Lloyd Industries has a long, unfortunate history of putting employees at risk and defying federal officials. Since 2000, approximately 40 serious injuries including lacerations, crushed, fractured, dislocated and amputated fingers have been recorded,” said Richard Mendelson, OSHA regional administrator in Philadelphia. “William P. Lloyd refuses to make his company safe. Whenever someone tries, they are fired.”
The first employee filed an OSHA complaint, alleging Lloyd fired him in retaliation for assisting in the filing of the federal complaint. The plant manager also filed, alleging in his complaint that Lloyd fired him for his cooperation with OSHA.
To date, Lloyd Industries has failed to reinstate both workers, as well as compensate them for lost wages and other damages suffered as a result of the improper terminations.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the suit seeks to:
- Enjoin Lloyd Industries and William P. Lloyd from violating Section 11(c)(1) of the Act
- Direct the defendants to reinstate both employees
- Direct the defendants to compensate the complainants for lost wages and interest, punitive damages, emotional distress, pain and suffering resulting from their terminations
Direct the defendants to post notices at all of its work sites for 60 days stating that it will not discriminate or retaliate against employees involved in activities protected by Section 11 (c) of the Act.
The department’s Regional Office of the Solicitor in Philadelphia is litigating the case.
William Lloyd founded Lloyd Industries in 1981. Based in Montgomeryville, the company manufactures fire dampers and HVAC products, which it distributes through contractors throughout the U.S. and Canada. Lloyd also has operations in Orange Park, Florida, and Kowloon, Hong Kong.
OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of 22 statutes protecting employees who report violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, motor vehicle safety, health care reform, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, railroad, maritime and securities laws.
Employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or the government.
Mega Construction Fined $92,400 for Repeatedly Exposing Workers to Falls
Proposed penalties total $92,400.
“It is extremely disturbing that, after a dozen inspections and a workplace fatality, Mega Construction continues to violate OSHA’s fall protection requirements,” said Joseph Roesler, OSHA’s area director in Mobile. “Our goal is to use firm, fair and consistent enforcement to ensure voluntary compliance.”
Marine Builders Inc. Exposes Workers to Three-Story High Fall Hazards
Investigators from the agency’s Indianapolis area office responded to complaints alleging unsafe working conditions at the full-service marine construction company.
The agency cited the company for:
“Complying with OSHA’s common sense safety standards protects workers from injury on the job.”
Proposed penalties total $43,995.
DC Hotel Exposes Employees to More Than Two Dozen Workplace Safety, Health Hazards
OSHA’s investigation began August 24, 2015, in response to a complaint alleging hazards at the hotel.
OSHA inspectors identified a number of hazards, including:
- Deficiencies with the documentation of the OSHA 300 log
- Failure to report a worker hospitalization to OSHA within 24 hours
- Employees cleaning with compressed air in excess of 30 pounds per square inch
- Electrical hazards
- Deficiencies with the hotel’s energy control program
- Fall hazards as high as four feet
Proposed penalties total $76,700.
“Each of these hazards leaves employees at the hotel exposed to unnecessary safety and health risks,” said Nadira Janack, director of OSHA’s Baltimore Washington Area Office. “Employers have a legal responsibility to protect workers on the job. Anything less is unacceptable.”
D.S. Meyer Enterprises LLC Fined $52,500 for Exposing Workers to Trench Cave-in Hazards
When OSHA inspectors arrived at the site, they found a worker in an unprotected trench more than 8 feet deep with water accumulating in it from the leaking water main. OSHA subsequently cited D.S. Meyer Enterprises with a willful violation for allowing the worker to be exposed to a cave-in hazard. OSHA also cited the company for failing to ensure that workers in the trench wore hard hats, exposing workers to a spoil pile containing rocks and asphalt just inches from the open trench, and use of an improper ladder for accessing the trench.
OSHA conducted this inspection under its national emphasis program focused on trenches and a local emphasis program on construction.
Proposed penalties total $52,500.
“Despite knowing cave-in protection was required, D.S. Meyer Enterprises chose instead to willfully expose workers in that trench to life-threatening conditions,” said Kris Hoffman, director of OSHA’s Parsippany Area Office. “The fatality rate for excavation work is 112 percent higher than the rate for general construction. Trench protection systems are more than a required OSHA safety standard; they are a matter of life and death.”
Continental Construction Group Repeatedly Exposed Workers to Fall, Electrical Hazards
According to an OSHA citation, Continental Construction Group exposed employees to falls of 13 to 24 feet while constructing decks at a house at 21 Beach Road in Lynn, Massachusetts. The fall hazards stemmed from missing mid-rails at the third-floor level, no fall protection at the second-floor level, using improper ladders to access the second- and third-floor levels and failing to provide fall safety training to employees. The employees also faced electric shock hazards from ungrounded electrical equipment and power cords. OSHA previously cited Continental Construction in 2012 for several similar hazards at another work site in Lynn.
Proposed penalties total $55,400.
“Continental Construction’s recurring failure to protect its employees against clear and present workplace hazards is disturbing. These employees were one slip, trip or misstep away from suffering deadly or disabling falls. It’s imperative that this employer use and maintain effective safeguards on all its jobs,” said Anthony Covello, OSHA’s area director for Essex and Middlesex counties.
Serwas Window Cleaning Services Cited After Window Washer Falls to Death
A 20-year-old window washer fell more than 58 feet to his death because his safety lines were not properly tied off, federal inspectors found.
The investigations were opened following the worker’s death on September 9, 2015.
“This young man’s tragic death illustrates the importance of training workers in the proper use of fall protection systems,” said Robert Bonack, OSHA’s area director for the Appleton office. “Window washing is an inherently dangerous job. Employers must ensure workers have the proper equipment and are trained in its use.”
OSHA’s fatality inspection found the rooftop rigger being used by the worker was not tied back to a separate anchor point and counterweights were not utilized prior to him going over the edge to clean a set of windows at a senior living property on Hazel Street in Oshkosh.
The agency cited the company for four serious violations for failing to use fall protection properly and train workers in fall protection systems used during drop work. OSHA also issued Serwas a hazard letter for not marking or tagging the ropes used on the rigger with the length, diameter, and date placed in service.
Serwas has contested those citations.
On October 1, 2015, an OSHA inspector observed workers cleaning gutters on a residential roof on Durkee Street in Appleton, without fall protection. The company was cited for failing to provide fall protection on this site as well.
Proposed penalties for all three inspections total $69,800.
The page provides fact sheets, posters, and videos that illustrate various fall hazards and appropriate preventive measures. OSHA standards require that an effective form of fall protection be in use when workers perform construction activities six feet or more above the next lower level.
Berlin Builders Fined $198,000 for Exposing Workers to Life-Threatening Falls
Berlin Builders faces a total of $198,550 in federal penalties, including:
- 310 East Park Ave, Haddonfield $47,080
- 15 Sapphire Rd, Robbinsville $42,570
- 130 1st St, Lakewood $61,380
- 2500 Gianna Dr, Glassboro $47,520
OSHA opened the inspections under its local emphasis program focused on falls. Falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry, responsible for 40% of the industry’s workplace fatalities in 2014.
“By refusing to provide the proper fall protection, Berlin Builders is jeopardizing the lives and well-being of its employees and their families,” said Paula Dixon-Roderick, director of OSHA’s Marlton Area Office. “Four in 10 construction workers who die as a result of workplace injury suffer a fall, so it’s vital that construction companies take responsibility to ensure worker safety. No one should have to compromise their safety in order to earn a paycheck.”
Inspectors found Berlin Builders failed to:
- Train employees on fall protection
- Inspect jobsites for hazards
- Train employees on how to use ladders properly
Safety News Links
