For the third time in six years, OSHA has found widespread safety and health hazards at the West Hartford, Conn., tool manufacturing plant of Danaher Tool Group, doing business as Holo-Krome Inc. OSHA's most recent inspection, conducted under two national emphasis programs aimed at preventing amputations and overexposure to lead, has resulted in citations for 26 alleged willful, repeat, and serious violations of standards. Proposed penalties total $247,600.
The latest inspection began in August 2006. OSHA found safety interlocks on machinery were bypassed or removed, allowing employees to come in contact with moving parts. One worker sustained a hand injury on a machine with a bypassed interlock. OSHA proposed a fine of $70,000 for an alleged willful violation committed with intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and regulations.
Eleven repeat citations, accounting for $138,100 in proposed fines, were issued for hazards similar to those cited at the plant in 2004. These included unguarded or inadequately guarded mechanical power presses, grinders, and other machinery; no annual reviews of lockout procedures to prevent the accidental startup of machinery; exposed live electrical parts; lack of required hand protection; improper extension of fork trucks; and no warning signs and asbestos awareness training for workers. Repeat citations are issued when an employer has been cited for substantially similar hazards in the past and those citations have become final.
Fourteen serious citations, with $39,500 in proposed fines, were issued for lead accumulation on work surfaces, defective exit access, no controls to reduce excess noise levels; no hearing protection for exposed workers, confined space hazards, unguarded loft and work platforms, inappropriately used electrical cords, no fire extinguisher training, and failure to lock out machinery before performing maintenance. OSHA issues a serious citation when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
"Left uncorrected, these conditions continually expose employees to the hazards of laceration, amputation, crushing injuries, hearing loss, fire, electrocution, confined spaces, and exposure to toxic substances," said C. William Freeman III, OSHA's area director in Hartford, Conn. "The recurrence of hazards at this workplace is disturbing. Failure to supply and ensure these common, legally required safeguards unnecessarily puts employees' lives at risk."
Tips to Avoid Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Carbon monoxide can kill you. That's the message the EPA is again emphasizing since recent power outages caused by bad weather have prompted people to turn to generators and other alternative sources of power, heat and light. Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that is produced when any fuel is burned.
- Do not use fuel-burning devices such as gasoline-powered generators, gasoline-powered pressure washers, camp stoves and lanterns, or charcoal grills in homes, garages, or any other confined space such as attics or crawl spaces, or within 10 feet of windows, doors or other air intakes.
- Have vents and chimneys checked to assure that debris does not block or impede the exhaust from water heaters and gas furnaces.
- If you start to feel sick, dizzy or weak while using a fuel-burning appliance, get to fresh air right away. Go to the emergency room and tell the physician you suspect carbon monoxide poisoning.
OSHA Updates Fire Protection Standards for Shipyards
OSHA issued a revised fire protection final rule for shipyard employment in September 2004 that incorporated 19 NFPA standards. NFPA subsequently updated a number of these consensus standards. Because the newer standards had not been included in the 2004 proposal, the public had not been given adequate notice to allow the agency to reference them in the final rule.
The direct final rule adds 10 updated National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards to OSHA’s shipyard fire protection standard and requires employers to use the more recent versions. The updated standards also incorporate some newer technologies for fire protection equipment so employees may receive greater protection from shipyard fire hazards.
OSHA Seeking Comments on Third Phase of Standards Improvement Process
OSHA is seeking comments until February 20 on phase three of its Standards Improvement Project (SIPs III), the third in a series of rulemaking actions intended to improve and streamline OSHA standards and lessen regulatory burdens without reducing employee protections.
Through the SIPs III rulemaking, OSHA is seeking to improve its standards by revising confusing, outdated, duplicative, or inconsistent requirements. The revisions will help employers better understand their obligations, which will lead to increased compliance, ensure greater safety and health for employees, and reduce compliance costs and paperwork burdens.
In the ANPRM, changes being considered include revisions to eleven standards that OSHA has preliminarily identified to be addressed during the SIPs III rulemaking. OSHA is also asking for comments on updating medical testing and industrial hygiene sampling requirements in the various health standards. OSHA is also considering methods to make training requirements in both health and safety standards consistent.
The agency published two standards improvement project final rules, SIPs I in 1998 and SIPS II in 2005. SIPs I revised 147 provisions in 20 standards and saved $9,656,625 per year in compliance costs. SIPs II addressed 41 provisions in 21 standards, reduced compliance costs by $6,794,283 per year, and annual paperwork burdens by 210,105 hours.
Comments on the ANPRM must be submitted by February 20 to: OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. S-778B, Room N2625, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20210.
New Accident Reporting Requirements in Oregon
Oregon employers will be required to report fatal work-related motor vehicle accidents to Oregon OSHA beginning January 1 under recently updated safety and health rules.
Motor vehicle accidents nationally represent one-quarter of the total for workplace deaths. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, motor vehicle deaths on the job rose 2 percent in the United States during 2005. Motor vehicle accidents have been the leading cause of fatal workplace injuries in Oregon four of the past five years, accounting for 26 percent of fatalities compensable in the workers' compensation system between 2001 and 2005.
“We haven't done everything we can to create truly safe workplaces in Oregon until we address the largest single source of on-the-job fatalities in the state and in the nation - motor vehicles,” said Michael Wood, administrator of Oregon OSHA. “And our starting point needs to be a recognition that such deaths are workplace deaths. We need to track them and to treat them with the same seriousness and careful analysis that we try to provide whenever an employee is killed on the job.”
As has been the case for many years, fatal heart attacks that occur at work also must be reported to Oregon OSHA. Not all fatal heart attacks reported to Oregon OSHA result in an investigation.
Workplace deaths (including heart attacks) must be reported to Oregon OSHA at (800) 922-2689 within eight hours of the employer being aware of the incident. Workplace accidents that send three or more employees to the hospital must also be reported within eight hours while employers must report an incident that requires the overnight hospitalization of a worker within 24 hours.
Oregon OSHA updated reporting requirements in September 2006 following public hearings on proposed rule changes in August.
DEWALT Recalls Cordless Reciprocating Saws and Cut-Out Tools
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with DEWALT announced a voluntary recall of DEWALT DC305 Model Reciprocating Saws. Owners of the saw should stop using the saws immediately and contact DEWALT for a free repair.
The switch on these saws can short circuit, posing a fire hazard. DEWALT has received four reports of short circuits in the switch of these saws. One of these incidents was a report of a fire resulting in extensive damage, though the cause of this fire has not been confirmed. Another fire reportedly resulted in minor damage, and the other two incidents resulted in melting damage to the units. No injuries were reported.
This recall involves cordless DEWALT DC305 model reciprocating saws with date codes 200601-49 through 200640-49. They are yellow and black and about 18 inches long. The model number is located on the name plate on the side of the housing and the date code is located under the handle where the battery is inserted.
These saws were sold at major home centers and hardware stores nationwide from May 2006 through November 2006 for between $380 and $800.
DEWALT also recalled Model DW660 cut-out tools. The cut-out tools are yellow and black, and have model number DW660 written on their nameplate, which is located on the body of the unit. The recalled tools were manufactured between January 2006 and September 2006, and have date codes ranging from 200601 to 200639. The date code also is located on the tool’s nameplate. Units with a “V” stamped on the nameplate are not included in this recall.
AFL-CIO and UFCW Sue OSHA to Require Employers to Pay for Safety Equipment
The AFL–CIO and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) sued the U.S. Department of Labor over its failure to issue a standard requiring employers to pay for personal protective equipment (PPE) – a standard which has been delayed for nearly eight years. This OSHA rule would require employers to pay the costs of protective clothing, lifelines, face shields, gloves, and other equipment used by an estimated 20 million workers to protect them from job hazards.
The lawsuit asserts that OSHA’s failure to act is putting workers in danger. By OSHA’s own estimates, 400,000 workers have been injured and 50 have died due to the absence of this rule. The labor groups say that workers in some of America’s most dangerous industries, such as meatpacking, poultry, and construction, and low-wage and immigrant workers who suffer high injury rates, are vulnerable to being forced by their employers to pay for their own safety gear because of OSHA’s failure to finish the PPE rule.
The rule was first announced in 1997 and proposed in 1999 by OSHA after a ruling by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission that OSHA’s existing PPE standard could not be interpreted to require employers to pay for protective equipment. The new rule would not impose any new obligations on employers to provide safety equipment; it simply codifies OSHA’s longstanding policy that employers, not employees, have the responsibility to pay for it.
In 1999, OSHA promised to issue the final PPE rule in July 2000. But it missed that deadline and has missed every self-imposed deadline since. The agency has failed to act in response to a 2003 petition by the AFL-CIO and UFCW and numerous requests by the Hispanic Congressional Caucus. The lawsuit seeks to end this eight-year delay, calling it “egregious.”
"Nothing is standing in the way of OSHA issuing a final PPE rule to protect worker safety and health except the will to do so. It is long overdue that the agency take action on protective equipment. Now, we are asking the courts to force OSHA to act," said Joseph Hansen, UFCW International President.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, asks the court to issue an order directing the Secretary of Labor to complete the PPE rule within 60 days of the court’s order.
Non-compliant SCBA Cylinders Must be Tested to Comply with DOT Requirements
Arrowhead Industrial Services, a cylinder test and inspection company, is attempting to locate a limited number of composite SCBA cylinders that may not have been properly tested. These cylinders, manufactured by Luxfer, are labeled with hydrostatic test dates ranging from May 2005 through September 2005.
On May 1, 2006, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a safety notice concerning these cylinders and posted a serial number list and the following statement in the Federal Register: “A person with a listed cylinder should discontinue use of the cylinder and return it to Arrowhead. . . so that autofrettage and hydrostatic test can be completed before its next use.” Transport Canada has also issued a similar statement concerning non-compliant SCBA cylinders being used in Canada.
If you own one or more of these cylinders, you are legally required to comply with these government requirements.
Each affected cylinder must be removed from service immediately and sent in for testing.
If any of your SCBA cylinders need to be tested, please call this toll-free number: 1-800-355-3156. A customer service representative will arrange to have your cylinders tested and returned to you promptly at no charge.
If removing cylinders from service would create a hardship for you, the customer service representative can also arrange to provide loaner cylinders at no charge while your cylinders are being tested.
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