OSHA has cited Wal-Mart Stores Inc., for a total of 24 alleged repeat and serious violations of workplace safety and health standards at its supercenter store No. 2859 in Rochester, New York.
“The sizable fines proposed here reflect not only the seriousness of these conditions but the fact that several of them are substantially similar to hazards identified at nine other Wal-Mart locations in New York and eight other states,” said Arthur Dube, OSHA’s area director in Buffalo. “This situation is unacceptable. A corporate employer must take effective and proactive steps to assess, correct and prevent the recurrence of hazards at all of its locations.”
The Rochester inspections led OSHA to identify fall hazards, obstructed exit routes, an absence of lockout/tagout procedures for energy sources that would allow employees to safely perform maintenance on a compactor, an unguarded grinder, no training for employees using personal protective equipment, a lack of eye and face protection, and a lack of information and training on hazardous chemicals in the workplace. These conditions resulted in citations for 10 repeat violations with $288,000 in fines.
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. In this case, OSHA had cited Wal-Mart for similar hazards between 2008 and 2010 at workplaces in South Mobile, Alabama; Jonesboro, Arkansas; Plant City, Florida; Rincon, Georgia; Jerseyville, Illinois; Festus, Missouri; Queensbury, New York; Fargo, North Dakota; and Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In addition, the Rochester inspections revealed workers exposed to confined space hazards due to management’s failure to conduct evaluations in locations such as compactors, develop a confined space entry program, provide employees with confined space training and share confined space information with contractors performing work in the store. Other hazards were a bypassed interlock switch that allowed a compactor to be operated with its door open, additional lockout/tagout deficiencies, an illegible emergency exit sign, and an incomplete bloodborne pathogen program and training for employees whose duties involve exposure to blood or body fluids. These conditions resulted in citations for 14 serious violations with $77,500 in proposed fines. 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.
“One method by which employers can prevent recurring hazards is developing and maintaining an effective illness and injury prevention program in which management and employees work together to proactively identify and prevent hazardous conditions,” said Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York.
How to Prepare for OSHA Adoption of the GHS for Classification and Labeling of Chemicals
. This means that virtually every product label, material safety data sheet (soon to be called “safety data sheet”), 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 MSDSs.
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
OSHA is adopting the new Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for the classification and labeling of hazardous chemicals. A cornerstone of GHS is the adoption of a completely revised Safety Data Sheet (SDS).
How to Label Hazardous Chemicals Using OSHA’s New GHS Hazcom Standard
Workplace and supplier hazard communication labels are being reinvented as OSHA adopts the new Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for labeling hazardous chemicals.
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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 7–14 days per month. We are looking for an expert in all of the General Industry and Construction standards who is capable of performing audits of industrial facilities as well as conducting on-site training.
Strong consideration will be given to applicants who also have experience providing HAZWOPER, Hazcom, 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.
NIH Study Links High Levels of Cadmium, Lead in Blood to Pregnancy Delay
Higher blood levels of cadmium in females and higher blood levels of lead in males delays pregnancy in couples trying to become pregnant, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other academic research institutions.
Cigarette smoke is the most common source of exposure to cadmium, a toxic metal found in the earth’s crust, which is used in batteries, pigments, metal coatings, and plastics. Smokers are estimated to have twice the levels of cadmium as do non-smokers. Exposure also occurs in workplaces where cadmium-containing products are made, and from the air near industrial facilities that emit cadmium. Airborne cadmium particles can travel long distances before settling on the ground or water. Soil levels of cadmium vary with location. Fish, plants, and animals absorb cadmium from the environment, and all foods contain at least low levels of the metal.
Lead, a toxic metal also found in the earth’s crust, is used in a variety of products, such as ceramics, pipes, and batteries. Common sources of lead exposure in the US include lead-based paint in older homes, lead-glazed pottery, contaminated soil, and contaminated drinking water.
Exposure to these metals is known to have a number of effects on human health, but the effects on human fertility have not been extensively studied, especially when studying both partners of a couple.
The study was published online in Chemosphere. The study’s principal investigator was Germaine M. Buck Louis, Ph.D., director of the Division of Epidemiology, Statistics, and Prevention Research at the NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Other authors of the study were from the NICHD, the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health, College Station; The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus; The EMMES Corp., in Rockville, Maryland; the National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta; and the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, Atlanta.
“Our results indicate that men and women planning to have children should minimize their exposure to lead and cadmium,” Dr. Buck Louis said. “They can reduce cadmium exposure by avoiding cigarettes or by quitting if they are current smokers, especially if they intend to become pregnant in the future. Similarly, they can take steps to reduce their exposure to lead based paints, which may occur in older housing, including during periods of home renovation.”
To conduct the study, the researchers enrolled 501 couples from four counties in Michigan and 12 counties in Texas, from 2005 to 2009. The women ranged from 18 to 44 years of age, and the men were over 18. Couples provided blood samples for the analysis of three heavy metals. Women kept journals to record their monthly menstrual cycles and the results of home pregnancy tests. The couples were followed until pregnancy or for up to one year of trying.
The researchers ranked the study participants on the basis of their blood levels of lead and cadmium. The researchers also measured the participants’ blood mercury levels, but found they were not associated with the length of time couples required to become pregnant. Nearly every study participant had some exposure to these common metals, although blood levels of the metals varied across participants.
Researchers calculated the probability that a couple would achieve pregnancy by levels of blood cadmium and lead with a statistical measure called the fecundability odds ratio. The measure estimates couples’ probability of pregnancy each cycle, by their blood concentration of metals. A ratio less than one suggests a longer time to pregnancy, while a ratio greater than one suggests a shorter time to pregnancy. Females’ blood cadmium concentration was associated with a ratio below 1 (0.78), which means that the probability of pregnancy was reduced by 22% with each increase in the level of cadmium. Males’ blood lead exposure also was associated with a ratio below 1 (0.85) with increasing levels, or about a 15% reduction in the probability of pregnancy for each increase in the level of blood lead concentrations.
The researchers also calculated a fecundability odds ratio based on both partners’ combined lead, cadmium, and mercury concentrations. The researchers found a ratio of 0.82 for male lead exposure, representing approximately a 28% reduction in the probability of pregnancy for each menstrual cycle, with increasing male blood lead concentration.
“The findings highlight the importance of assessing couples’ exposure jointly, in a single, combined measure,” Dr. Buck Louis said. “Males matter, because couples’ chances of becoming pregnant each cycle were reduced with increasing blood lead concentrations in men.”
Arsenic Criticality Poses Concern for Modern Technology
Risks related to the critical nature of arsenic—used to make high-speed computer chips that contain gallium arsenide—outstrip those of other substances in a group of critical materials needed to sustain modern technology, a new study has found.
T. E. Graedel, E. M. Harper, N. Nassar, and colleagues explain that five metals—gold, silver, arsenic, selenium, and tellurium—exist in small amounts within larger deposits of copper. Supplies of all six elements are critically important for modern technology. Copper wires, for instance, conduct electricity; electronics makers rely on gold and silver; solar panels require selenium and tellurium, and computer chips contain arsenic. The research group notes that while a shortage of any of these would hurt a range of technology industries, there is no existing standard for assessing the relative supply risk, environmental concerns, and vulnerability to supply restriction of the metals.
To fill that gap, the team explored the so-called “criticality” of these six metals, a term that takes into account the risk of future scarcity and the potential damage from shortages. They found arsenic to be the most critical, with silver and selenium close behind. The rankings are dynamic and will evolve over time, the scientists note, because the underlying factors that determine criticality for arsenic and the other elements vary with changing economic, technological, and social conditions. Using the group’s methodology, corporations and nations could identify their unique set of critical materials and take concrete steps to stabilize their supply chains, as well as identify and improve the performance of less critical substitute materials.
FRA Proposes Rule Establishing Safety Training Standards for Railroad Employees
DOT Secretary Ray LaHood has announced a proposal to require railroads to train and qualify employees in safety-related positions on federal railroad safety laws, regulations, and orders.
“Safety is our highest priority and we will continue to work to create a safer operating environment for employees, passengers and communities,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “We have made dramatic progress in improving safety, but there is always more we can do to reduce incidents.”
The proposed rule would require each railroad or contractor with safety-related railroad employees to develop a training program designating the qualifications of each employee and then submit that program for Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) approval. Employers would conduct periodic oversight of their own employees to determine compliance and conduct annual written reviews of their training programs to close performance gaps. The proposed rule is a requirement of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008.
“Well-designed training programs have the potential to further reduce risk in the railroad environment,” said FRA Joseph C. Szabo. “We believe that better training can reduce the number of accidents, particularly those caused by human factors, which account for the vast majority of reportable accidents each year.”
Under the FRA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), training would apply to relevant railroad rules and procedures used to implement those federal railroad safety laws.
The NRPM was developed with the input from officials in numerous federal and state government agencies, industry, and labor.
Cal/OSHA Issues Hazard Alert and Launches Confined Spaces Emphasis Program
The California Department of Industrial Relations’ Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) has launched a statewide Confined Space Special Emphasis Initiative to focus attention on preventing worker deaths and injuries in confined spaces in worksites across the state.
“Employers in California are responsible for identifying and mitigating risks in the workplace,” said Department of Industrial Relations Director Christine Baker. “This initiative and the Confined Space Hazard Alert provide specific information so that employers can identify when confined space hazards exist and special precautions must be taken.”
Since confined spaces may be encountered in virtually any industry, their identification is the first step in preventing fatalities and injuries. The goals of the Confined Space Emphasis Initiative are to:
- Increase awareness of employees and employers of these hazards.
- Provide resources, online materials, training, and consultation to prevent injuries and deaths.
- Increase enforcement efforts to ensure all employers have adequate confined space programs and training at their workplaces.
The initiative follows investigations of confined space deaths and injuries in California—in different industries and different situations. In 2011, seven workers were killed in confined space incidents in California, including two young brothers in Kern County overcome by toxic gases in a recycling drainage tunnel.
“Confined spaces can be deceptively dangerous. It is even more tragic that over 60% of confined space worker deaths occur to would-be rescuers who attempt to save a worker who initially succumbs,” said Cal/OSHA Chief Ellen Widess. “These confined space fatalities are preventable with proper programs in place. We are taking a comprehensive approach to reducing these deaths and injuries in California—through widespread education, enforcement, consultation as well as partnerships to help increase awareness and compliance.”
Cal/OSHA begins its year-long campaign on confined space hazards in collaboration with partners in labor, industry, public safety agencies, and other safety and health groups. The campaign stresses the importance of the requirement that businesses have plans in place to identify confined spaces at their workplaces, notify and train employees, and ensure that on-site rescue plans are in place. These requirements include having a written confined space plan, procedures to test the air quality inside the space, proper employee and supervisor training prior to entering confined spaces, and having effective rescue procedures in place which must be immediately available on site.
Common types of confined spaces include tanks, silos, pipelines, sewers, storage bins, drain tunnels, and vaults. These are widespread in many industries, and also in non-industrial workplaces such as health care, education, retail, and services.
Online webinars and other outreach programs will also be held throughout the year to help educate employers become aware of the risks inherent of working in confined spaces and necessary steps to prevent injuries and deaths.
California Considers Listing Isopyrazam, Beta-myrcene, Pulegone, and 3,3’,4,4’-Tetrachloroazobenzene as Carcinogens
The California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) is requesting information as to whether the chemicals isopyrazam, beta-myrcene, pulegone, and 3,3’,4,4’-tetrachloroazobenzene meet the criteria for listing as known to the State to cause cancer under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986.
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Chemicals Appearing to Meet Criteria for Listing as Known to Cause Cancer |
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Chemical (CAS No.) |
Reference |
Occurrence and Uses |
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Isopyrazam |
EPA (2011) |
Pyrazole fungicide. Not registered by EPA, but used in Central and South American on bananas to control black sigatoka (Mycosphaerella fijiensis). |
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beta-Myrcene |
NTP (2010a) |
Component of certain essential oils, such as hop, bay, verbena, and lemongrass oils. Used to produce aroma and flavor chemicals, as a flavoring agent in food and beverages, and as a fragrance in cosmetics, soaps, and detergents. |
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Pulegone |
NTP (2011) |
A constituent of pennyroyal, mint, and peppermint, and a component of certain essential oils. Used in flavoring food, drinks, and dental products, as a fragrance, and in herbal medicines. |
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3,3’,4,4’-Tetrachloroazobenzene |
NTP (2010b) |
Contaminant of 3,4-dichloroaniline and the related herbicides linuron, diuron, and propanil, and a degradation product of 3,4-dichloroaniline and chloroanilide herbicides. |
OEHHA is the lead agency for Proposition 65 implementation. After an authoritative body has made a determination about a chemical, OEHHA evaluates whether listing under Proposition 65 is required using the criteria contained in the regulations.
Manhattan Contractor Cited After Worker Falls 80 Feet
OSHA has cited Navillus Contracting Tile Inc., for alleged repeat and serious violations of safety standards at a work site located at 2738 86th St. in Brooklyn, New York. The Manhattan-based masonry contractor was cited following a September 28, 2011, incident in which an employee fell 80 feet to a lower level from the top of a 118-foot-high scaffold.
“This employee is fortunate to have escaped death, but what is unfortunate is that this fall occurred in the first place,” said Kay Gee, OSHA’s area director for Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. “It is effective scaffold maintenance, work practices and fall protection—not luck—that are essential to protecting workers against life-threatening falls.”
These conditions resulted in citations for six serious violations, with $36,000 in proposed fines.
One repeat violation with a proposed fine of $38,500 involves a lack of guardrails. OSHA cited Navillus in September 2008 for a similar hazard at a Bronx work site.
“To prevent hazards such as these, employers should implement effective illness and injury prevention programs in which they work continuously with their employees to identify and eliminate hazards,” said Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York.
Schuylkill Valley Engineering Fined $10,000 for Radiation Protection Act Violations
The Pennsylvania DEP has received $10,000 from Schuylkill Valley Engineering in Reading, Pennsylvania, as a result of a consent order and agreement for violations of the Radiation Protection Act.
“Companies that use radioactive material for their business practices should always follow DEP regulations and maintain proper records,” DEP South-central Regional Director Rachel Diamond said. “It is important that these procedures be followed for health and safety reasons.”
DEP fined Schuylkill Valley Engineering after three inspections turned up various violations. The first inspection in August 2008 revealed the company changed its radiation safety officer without notifying DEP, did not possess the proper records onsite, failed to have current emergency procedures in place, failed to properly secure locks on its portable gauging device, and did not maintain records of radiation doses to which workers were exposed. DEP issued a notice of violation in October 2008.
On the second and third inspections, in October 2009 and March 2011, DEP learned the company repeated these violations and was over the limit of how much radioactive material it could possess. It also did not have safety signs posted at the site. DEP issued notices of violation in November 2009 and April 2011.
As part of the consent order, Schuylkill Valley Engineering submitted corrective action plans to DEP after each inspection.
Brass Foundry Fined for Dust Exposure, Other Violations
OSHA has cited Fall River Foundry with 10 safety violations, including three repeat violations for failing to protect workers from metal dust exposure at its brass foundry in Fall River, Wisconsin. Proposed fines total $57,600.
“Failing to ensure workers do not exceed permissible exposure limits to metal dust puts them at unnecessary risk of respiratory illnesses and complications,” said Kim Stille, OSHA’s area director in Madison. “Employers are responsible for knowing the hazards that exist in their facilities and taking precautions to keep workplaces safe and healthful. OSHA is committed to protecting workers on the job, especially when employers fail to do so.”
OSHA opened an investigation on August 25, 2011, under the agency’s National Emphasis Program for Primary Metal Industries, which focuses on identifying, reducing, and eliminating worker exposures to harmful chemical and physical hazards in establishments producing metal products.
The repeat violations specifically involve allowing workers to exceed permissible exposure limits for copper and lead dust as well as failing to implement sufficient engineering controls to reduce metal dust exposure, which includes both copper and lead. Fall River Foundry also was cited for these violations in 2009 and 2010.
Seven serious violations include failing to provide annual respirator fit tests, maintain eating areas free of metal dust, require workers to remove clothing with possible metal dust contamination prior to taking lunch breaks, and provide forklift training. Additionally, several of the violations relate to OSHA’s lead standard, including failing to provide sufficient engineering controls to reduce lead exposure, provide warning signs in areas where lead is present, and train workers on the hazards of silica, a component of lead.
Prior to this inspection, Fall River Foundry had been inspected by OSHA eight times since 1987, resulting in citations for 28 violations.
Vann Energy Services Cited for Confined Space Hazards
OSHA has cited Vann Energy Services LLC, for 17 serious violations following a safety and health inspection at the company’s maintenance facility on East Avenue in Nixon, Texas. Proposed penalties total $70,200.
OSHA began its inspection on August 19, 2011, after receiving a complaint about employees who were required to enter oil field hydraulic fracturing tanks for cleaning without receiving precautions about confined space atmospheric hazards. Vann Energy provides trucking and oil field support services, including cleaning fracturing tanks, at the Nixon location.
Serious health violations include failing to implement a permit-required confined space entry program; provide proper respiratory protection; provide personal protective equipment, such as chemical-impervious gloves and footwear; and provide first-aid services and chemical hazard training. Serious safety violations include failing to provide approved electrical systems for lighting at night; ensure electrical equipment, such as fans, were approved for hazardous locations; provide covers over open pits; and maintain electrical conductors and cords in a safe operating condition.
“Vann Energy Services required workers to enter a fracturing tank for cleaning without testing the atmospheric hazards first and without training the workers on confined space hazards,” said Casey Perkins, director of OSHA’s Austin Area Office. “Confined space and electrical hazards like the ones found at this site can kill workers. It is fortunate these hazards were identified before anyone was seriously injured.”
OSHA Cites South Florida Contractor after Worker Injured by Crane
OSHA cited Hialeah, Florida-based Bennett Electrical Services Co., Inc., for three safety violations, including one willful, after an employee was seriously injured when operating a crane.
During an inspection begun in August based on a referral, OSHA found that an employee had been injured and hospitalized as a result of a defective truck-mounted crane. While moving concrete traffic light poles with the crane, the boom of the crane separated from the truck, striking the operator in the head, which knocked him off the operator’s station and onto the ground.
One willful violation with a $42,000 penalty is for failing to conduct annual inspections on a truck-mounted crane. The employer was aware of safety concerns raised by OSHA in previous citations issued in 2002 and again in 2006. 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.
Two serious violations with $8,400 in proposed fines have been issued for allowing modifications to be made to the truck-mounted crane without the written approval of the manufacturer and allowing the crane to continue to be operated despite known deficiencies.
“Because this employer failed to provide safe equipment, a worker was seriously injured and could have been killed,” said Darlene Fossum, director of OSHA’s Fort Lauderdale Area Office. “This unfortunate incident illustrates why following OSHA’s standards is so important. All employees deserve a work environment free from unnecessary hazards.”
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