This means that virtually every product label, MSDS (called “safety data sheet” or SDS under the new standard), and written hazard communication plan must be revised to meet the new standard. Worker training must be updated by December 13, 2013 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 SDSs.
Environmental Resource Center is offering webcast training for you to learn how the new rule differs from current requirements, how to implement the changes, and when the changes must be implemented.
How to Author GHS Safety Data Sheets
How to Label Hazardous Chemicals Using OSHA’s New GHS Hazcom Standard
Columbus RCRA and DOT Training
Spartanburg RCRA and DOT Training
Chicago RCRA and DOT Training
OSHA Cites Seven Companies for Exposing Workers to Asbestos
Proposed penalties total $148,000.
In response to a referral by the Texas Department of State Health Services, OSHA initiated a safety and health inspection in March at the Reserves at Pecan Valley apartment complex. Inspectors found that workers were remodeling apartments without the use of proper clothing and respiratory equipment that would protect them from exposure to asbestos.
Specifically, the violations include failing to abate asbestos hazards and ensure that employees work in regulated areas, perform air monitoring for asbestos exposure, use the required engineering controls to prevent exposure, require the use of proper respiratory and personal protective equipment, train workers on the hazards of working with asbestos and ensure that an asbestos assessment is performed by a qualified person. A serious violation occurs when there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
Apartment Community Cited After Two Workers Hospitalized
OSHA has cited Rochdale Village Inc., for alleged repeat and serious violations of workplace health and safety standards after two maintenance employees were hospitalized for accidentally inhaling a powder pesticide. The apartment community, located in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, New York, faces a total of $116,400 in proposed fines following an inspection by OSHA.
The employees – who were permitted to enter nonventilated compactor rooms to bag garbage after powder pesticide had been applied – lacked adequate respiratory protection, effective training, and information to protect themselves from pesticides and other hazardous chemicals. OSHA found that Rochdale Village failed to conduct a workplace hazard assessment that would have identified these hazards. In addition, employees who changed air conditioning filters in the apartment complex lacked adequate respiratory protection.
These conditions have resulted in citations carrying $71,500 in penalties for three repeat violations. 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. Rochdale Village was cited for similar hazards in January 2010.
Citations carrying $44,900 in penalties have been issued for seven serious violations after OSHA determined that employees who worked with caustic and hazardous chemicals in the compactor and chemical storage rooms lacked eye and hand protection, as well as emergency eyewash stations, and that Rochdale Village failed to both conduct an assessment to identify such hazards and evaluate confined space hazards associated with crawlspaces in which plumbers and handymen routinely worked. Additionally, employees who bagged garbage, and thus were exposed to needles and debris, were not subject to an exposure control plan and other safeguards to protect them from bloodborne pathogens.
OSHA Fines SeaCast $104,000 for Safety Violations at Foundry
The Washington state-based company faces proposed penalties of $104,000 following an inspection that was initiated after OSHA received complaints alleging safety and health violations.
Thirteen serious violations involve machine guarding deficiencies, elevated levels of respirable silica, not providing a fully implemented respiratory protection program for employees, unsecured storage racks and materials, blocked electrical equipment, inadequate housekeeping, and failing to reduce the pressure of compressed air nozzles to less than 30 lb per square inch.
The willful violation is failing to administer a continuous, effective hearing conservation program. 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.
Dana Holding Corp. Ordered to Pay Whistleblower Nearly $275,000 in Back Wages, Damages
Dana Holding Corp., has been ordered by the Department of Labor to reinstate and pay $274,922.47 in back wages and benefits, compensatory damages, and attorney’s fees to a financial analyst who was fired from the company’s Toledo, Ohio, facility in February 2009.
The order resulted from an investigation by OSHA into alleged violations of the whistleblower protection provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. OSHA was able to substantiate a complaint submitted by the employee, who alleged termination for raising concerns about inaccuracies in the company’s customer information assessment system database that could be reflected as inaccuracies in the company’s annual financial reports.
Specifically, OSHA’s order requires the company to pay $47,813.72 in back wages, vacation pay, pension, and 401(k) contributions; $108,167.60 in compensatory damages; and $118,941.15 in attorney’s fees. In addition to immediate reinstatement, the company must expunge any adverse references related to the discharge in the employee’s personnel record, post a notice about the Sarbanes-Oxley Act’s whistleblower provisions for all employees, and train employees on these provisions.
Dana Holding supplies driveline, sealing, and thermal management technologies for passenger, commercial, and off-highway vehicles. The company is headquartered in Maumee and employs about 25,500 workers worldwide.
Job Opening: 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 full-time 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.
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