Security vs Safe Exit Access

You work for a company that has fairly tight security measures. You have noticed that several of the exit doors that are equipped with panic hardware have an electronic device on the wall next to the door that must be pressed before the panic bar can be activated releasing the door lock. You bring this issue to your employer’s attention and indicate you are concerned that employees trying to evacuate a smoke filled room may not be able to locate the electronic device and would be trapped at the exit door.

Your employer disagrees and continues with the practice.

Question: Who is right? You or your employer?

Answer: OSHA States the following in a March 12, 1981 letter of interpretation: 29 CFR [1910.36(d)(1)] requires that [”Employees must be able to open an exit route door from the inside at all times without keys, tools, or special knowledge. A device such as a panic bar that locks only from the outside is permitted on exit discharge doors”].

The use of an electronic device that must be pressed before the panic bar can be activated violates the intent of 29 CFR [1910.36(d)(1)]. Employers utilizing such a system are cited. Employees trying to evacuate a smoke filled room may not be able to locate the electronic device and would be trapped at the exit door. Depression of the panic bar must open the exit without any prior action. Relays which signal a security monitor of the occurrence and which do not inhibit exiting are permitted.

FREEPORT, Texas – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Texas Barge & Boat Inc. for one willful and 39 serious violations following the deaths of two workers from a fire at the company’s facility in Freeport, where boats and barges are repaired.

“It is critical that air monitoring is conducted when employees perform cutting operations in confined and enclosed spaces,” said Mark Briggs, director of OSHA’s Houston South Area Office. “This accident possibly could have been avoided if the company had followed OSHA’s standards.”

OSHA initiated a safety and health inspection on April 2 following a report from the local sheriff’s department that an explosion had occurred and two workers were missing at the company’s facility on East Floodgate Road. Nine employees were performing cutting and fire watch operations inside the hopper space, an area between the cargo hold and the bottom plate of the vessel, with limited means of entry and exit when the flash fire occurred.

The willful violation was cited for failing to conduct air monitoring tests prior to employees entering the confined and enclosed spaces to perform oxygen and fuel gas cutting operations. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to employee safety and health.

The serious violations involve failing to provide fall protection around the perimeter of the barge and around manholes, ensure compressed gas cylinders were secured, ensure proper electrical wiring was installed, ensure circuit breakers were labeled, provide respirator fit-testing, inspect oxygen and acetylene hoses, and develop a fire safety plan. 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.

Proposed penalties total $221,200. The citations can be viewed at: http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/TexasBarge-Boat-312928195-0929-11.pdf  and http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/TexasBarge-Boat-312927445-0929-11.pdf.

OSHA proposes more than $121,000 in fines for blocked exits, unsafe storage, and electrical hazards.

The Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Rite Aid of New York Inc. for 10 alleged repeat and serious violations of safety standards following an inspection of the retail chain’s store at 6900 Fourth Ave. in Brooklyn. Rite Aid faces a total of $121,100 in proposed fines.

The inspection identified several hazardous conditions similar to those cited by OSHA during inspections of Rite Aid stores in the Bronx and Rome, N.Y., in 2007 and 2008. These conditions include an emergency exit blocked by garbage and debris, merchandise stacked in an unsafe manner, electrical panels blocked by cardboard and totes containing merchandise, an ungrounded electric power strip and employees exposed to an electrical hazard while stacking stock. As a result, OSHA cited the company for five repeat violations with $93,500 in proposed 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.

Additional violations include a stairway to the basement storage room that was too steep, too narrow and lacked slip resistant treads; an 8-foot fall hazard for employees standing on the top of a ladder to store stock; boxes of merchandise used to prop open an emergency exit door; the absence of portable fire extinguishers in a basement storage room; and the lack of a working interlock to prevent a box crusher from operating while its door was open. These conditions resulted in citations for five serious violations with $27,600 in 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 might not think of a store as a hazardous workplace, but the fact is that these conditions expose workers to potentially deadly falls, crushing injuries, burns and electrocution, as well as the inability of workers and customers to exit swiftly in the event of a fire or other emergency,” said Kay Gee, OSHA’s Manhattan area director. “The sizable fines proposed here reflect both the severity of these hazards and the reality that this employer previously has been cited for similar conditions.”

“For the safety and health of all its employees, the company should seek to identify such hazards at all of its locations and correct them if they exist,” said Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York. “One means of addressing and eliminating new and recurring hazards is through an illness and injury prevention program in which management and workers proactively identify and eliminate hazardous conditions on a continual basis.”

The citation can be viewed at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/riteaidfinalcitations.pdf

OSHA cites Marietta Industrial Enterprises in Marietta, Ohio for $186,000 after worker’s death at recycling facility.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Marietta Industrial Enterprises Inc., which operates Refuse Recycling in Marietta Ohio for 21 safety, including two willful, violations. OSHA opened an inspection after a worker was found dead inside the rotating drum assembly of a machine used to screen recyclables from other refuse on March 30.

“Marietta Industrial Enterprises showed an intentional disregard for employee safety by failing to provide lockout/tagout training to workers performing maintenance inside rotating drums, which could easily be restarted if their energy sources were not properly cut off,” said Deborah Zubaty, OSHA’s area director in Columbus. “No one should ever lose his or her life because safety procedures were not followed. It is the employer’s responsibility to train workers and ensure that the workplace is free from unnecessary hazards.”

Two willful violations involve failing to implement lockout/tagout procedures to prevent equipment from becoming unexpectedly energized and to train workers in lockout/tagout procedures. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirement or plain indifference to employee safety and health.

Additionally, 14 serious violations involve failing to provide machine guarding, provide adequate guardrails, mark and illuminate emergency and exit signs, evaluate the workplace to determine if there were any confined spaces that would require permits, examine powered industrial trucks prior to each shift, ensure that employees used electrical protective equipment, provide electrically insulated tools, develop an exposure control plan for bloodborne pathogens, offer hepatitis B vaccines and label biohazard containers. 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.

Finally, five other-than-serious violations involve using work areas for storage, as well as failing to record work-related injuries, maintain clean conditions, provide a written respiratory protection program and provide employees with information for voluntary respirator use. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious injury.

As a result of the investigation, Marietta Industrial Enterprises has been placed in OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program. Initiated in June 2010, SVEP is intended to focus on recalcitrant employers that endanger workers by committing willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations in one or more of the following circumstances: a fatality or catastrophe, industry operations or processes that expose workers to severe occupational hazards, employee exposure to hazards related to the potential releases of highly hazardous chemicals and all per-instance citation (egregious) enforcement actions. For more information on SVEP, visit http://www.osha.gov/dep/svep-directive.pdf*.

Proposed penalties total $186,300. The citations can be viewed at: http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/MARIETTA_INDUSTRIAL_ENTERPRISES_314593690_0922_11.pdf

OSHA cites Allentown, Pa., soft drink company for exposing workers to safety and health hazards

A-Treat Bottling Co. is cited for 24 safety and health violations at its Allentown facility. OSHA initiated a Jan. 21 inspection under a local emphasis program focused on follow-up inspections and noise hazards. Proposed fines total $110,880.

“The hazards found at this facility risk the safety and health of workers and must be corrected immediately,” said Jean Kulp, director of OSHA’s Allentown Area Office.

Six repeat violations with penalties of $43,120 reflect the company’s failure to maintain required records, conduct a baseline audiogram for an employee overexposed to noise hazards, conduct annual hearing conservation training for employees overexposed to noise hazards, conduct adequate forklift operations and ensure equipment had proper machine guards in place to protect employees. 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. The company was cited for the same violations in 2008 and 2010 at the Allentown facility.

Seventeen serious violations with penalties of $67,760 involve the company’s failure to develop and utilize documented energy control procedures; provide training to employees utilizing energy control procedures; provide a proper eye wash for employees working with citric acid; provide machine guards on equipment; maintain copies of material safety data sheets for all chemicals; maintain clear and unobstructed exit routes; maintain exit doors and illuminated exit signs in proper working order; educate employees in fire extinguisher use; maintain forklifts in safe operating condition; provide a seatbelt for a forklift; protect employees from electrical hazards; and implement controls to reduce employee exposure to occupational noise.

One other-than-serious violation with no monetary penalty was cited for failing to ensure electrical equipment was guarded to prevent employee contact.

A-Treat Bottling Co. is a soft drink beverage manufacturer and bottler that employs about 50 workers at its Allentown site.

US Labor Department’s OSHA fines Rochester, NY, pizza shell manufacturer more than $195,000 for failing to correct workplace hazards

Bona Via Inc., a Rochester, N.Y., manufacturer of pizza shells, has been cited by OSHA for failing to correct safety hazards identified during a prior inspection and for newly identified hazards at its 10 White St. plant. The company faces a total of $195,200 in proposed fines.

“The sizable fines proposed here reflect the fact that this employer was given ample opportunity to correct several hazardous conditions that can have a negative impact on the safety and well-being of its workers, yet failed to do so,” said Arthur Dube, OSHA’s area director in Buffalo.

Following an inspection in late 2009, OSHA cited and fined the company $12,000 for a variety of hazards. The company agreed to correct those hazards. However, an OSHA follow-up inspection opened in August 2010 found that several of the hazards remained uncorrected. These included failing to install and maintain electrical equipment that was safe for a hazardous location, not replacing pressure relief devices on the oil separator for an ammonia refrigeration compressor, failing to develop a written emergency action program, not ensuring the flour silo area was clean of flour dust to avoid creating a dust explosion hazard and not evaluating employees to ensure they were qualified to safely operate powered industrial trucks. The conditions resulted in the issuance of five failure-to-abate notices with $188,000 in proposed fines. A failure-to-abate notice is issued, and additional fines proposed, when an employer fails to correct previously cited hazards.

During the latest inspection, OSHA also identified several new conditions that resulted in the issuance of three serious citations with $7,200 in fines. These included failing to implement proper procedures to lock out machines’ power sources prior to performing maintenance, an uncovered electrical junction box and a lack of fire extinguisher training. 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.

“One means of eliminating recurring hazards such as these is for employers to establish an injury and illness prevention program in which workers and management jointly work to identify and eliminate hazardous conditions on a continual basis,” said Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York.

Crystal manufacturer fined over half a million dollars

Federal OSHA has cited NDK Crystals Inc. in Belvedere Illinois with fines of $510,000 for alleged egregious willful and serious violations of federal workplace safety standards following an explosion at the company’s crystal manufacturing building that took the life of a truck driver parked at a nearby service station. Workers at this facility were exposed to hazards that created a dangerous environment.

“The employer knowingly operated high pressure vessels even after being warned of the potential for a catastrophic failure due to material design and fabrication defects,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. “This simply is unacceptable, and OSHA will use the full extent of the law to ensure the company is held accountable for its actions.”

Following its investigation, OSHA cited NDK Crystals with seven willful and five serious violations. The willful violations, one for each of seven individual high pressure vessels, involved the company’s continued operation of these high quality quartz production vessels even though it knew the vessels were susceptible to explosion and catastrophic failure as a result of defective design and fabrication. Willful violations are those committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for legal requirements, or plain indifference to employee safety and health.

The serious violations include failing to evaluate the building for a catastrophic event; failing to have an emergency evacuation program; failing to implement a hazard communication program; and a lack of personal protective equipment assessment and training certification.

Federal OSHA has cited Scovill Fasteners in Clarksville, Ga., for 60 safety and health violations. Penalties total $133,350.

OSHA began its inspection in October 2009 after receiving a complaint concerning a partial amputation of an employee’s index finger. Inspectors found a number of deficiencies at the plant including unguarded power presses, failing to develop lockout/tagout procedures for energy sources, lack of training for forklift operators, improper personal protection equipment for employees handling acids and caustics, and failing to provide a written hazard communications plan. The investigation was expanded to all areas of the facility when inspectors observed a high number of safety hazards.

The company is being cited with 40 serious safety violations with $99,050 in proposed penalties. The violations are associated with several instances where mechanical power presses were unguarded, exposing employees to amputation hazards. Other violations are related to fall hazards, damaged storage racks, crane and overhead hoists exposing employees to struck-by hazards, lack of adequate lighting and signage for emergency egress, and several electrical deficiencies.

A separate health inspection revealed 14 serious violations with $34,300 in proposed penalties. They include hazards associated with abrasive blasting, noise overexposure, lack of noise training for employees, failing to address all the required elements in the emergency response plan, failing to provide an appropriate eye wash and shower station, failing to perform a personal protection equipment assessment, as well as deficiencies in the respiratory protection program and the permit required confined space program. An OSHA violation is serious if death or serious physical harm can result from a hazard an employer knew or should have known exists.

The facility is also being cited with six other-than-serious violations with no proposed penalty. The violations concern dip tank ventilation deficiencies, improper use of respirators, lack of a written exposure control plan and failing to label containers. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.

“These types of violations show the kind of disregard this company has for the safety and welfare of its employees and why it needs to make the required improvements to prevent needless injuries,” said Gei-Thae Breezley, director of OSHA’s Atlanta-East Area Office.”

During a Winter Storm

• Guidelines
• If you are outdoors
• If you are driving

Guidelines

• Listen to your radio, television, or NOAA Weather Radio for weather reports and emergency information.
• Eat regularly and drink ample fluids, but avoid caffeine and alcohol.
• Conserve fuel, if necessary, by keeping your residence cooler than normal. Temporarily close off heat to some rooms.
• If the pipes freeze, remove any insulation or layers of newspapers and wrap pipes in rags. Completely open all faucets and pour hot water over the pipes, starting where they were most exposed to the cold (or where the cold was most likely to penetrate).
• Maintain ventilation when using kerosene heaters to avoid build-up of toxic fumes. Refuel kerosene heaters outside and keep them at least three feet from flammable objects.

If you are outdoors

• Avoid overexertion when shoveling snow. Overexertion can bring on a heart attack—a major cause of death in the winter. If you must shovel snow, stretch before going outside.
• Cover your mouth. Protect your lungs from extremely cold air by covering your mouth when outdoors. Try not to speak unless absolutely necessary.
• Keep dry. Change wet clothing frequently to prevent a loss of body heat. Wet clothing loses all of its insulating value and transmits heat rapidly.
• Watch for signs of frostbite. These include loss of feeling and white or pale appearance in extremities such as fingers, toes, ear lobes, and the tip of the nose. If symptoms are detected, get medical help immediately.
• Watch for signs of hypothermia. These include uncontrollable shivering, memory loss, disorientation, incoherence, slurred speech, drowsiness, and apparent exhaustion.
• If symptoms of hypothermia are detected:
  •  get the victim to a warm location
  • remove wet clothing
  • put the person in dry clothing and wrap their entire body in a blanket
  • warm the center of the body first
  • give warm, non-alcoholic or non-caffeinated beverages if the victim is conscious
  • get medical help as soon as possible.

If you are driving

• Drive only if it is absolutely necessary. If you must drive, consider the following:
• Travel in the day, don’t travel alone, and keep others informed of your schedule.
• Stay on main roads; avoid back road shortcuts.
• If a blizzard traps you in the car:
  • Pull off the highway. Turn on hazard lights and hang a distress flag from the radio antenna or window.
  • Remain in your vehicle where rescuers are most likely to find you. Do not set out on foot unless you can see a building close by where you know you can take shelter. Be careful; distances are distorted by blowing snow. A building may seem close, but be too far to walk to in deep snow.
  • Run the engine and heater about 10 minutes each hour to keep warm. When the engine is running, open a downwind window slightly for ventilation and periodically clear snow from the exhaust pipe. This will protect you from possible carbon monoxide poisoning.

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OSHA has cited HomeGoods for 16 alleged violations of workplace safety standards. The retailer faces a total of $233,500 in proposed fines, chiefly for exit access, fire and crushing hazards at its Commack, N.Y., store.

Responding to an employee complaint, OSHA found exit routes obstructed by stock and equipment, an exit route too narrow for passage, stacked material that prevented employees from identifying the nearest exit, blocked access to fire extinguishers, workers not trained in fire extinguisher use and boxes stored in unstable 8-foot high tiers.

OSHA had cited Home Goods in 2006 and 2007 for similar conditions at the company’s Mount Olive, N.J., and Somers, N.Y., locations. As a result of what OSHA calls “recurring conditions”, OSHA issued the company five repeat citations, with $200,000 in proposed fines, for the hazards at the Commack store.

“It’s been 99 years since the fire at The Triangle Shirtwaist Co. in New York City took the lives of nearly 150 workers and almost 19 years since two workers were killed when they were unable to exit the McCrory’s store in Huntington Station, N.Y., during a fire,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. “Blocked fire exits can be deadly. It is that simple.”

OSHA’s Commack inspection identified additional hazards, including a defective fire alarm box, a missing exit sign, electrical hazards and inadequate chemical hazard communication. These conditions resulted in nine serious citations, with $32,500 in fines. Finally, the store was issued one other-than-serious citation, with a $1,000 fine, for not providing injury and illness logs.

“There can be no delay in exiting a workplace during a fire or other emergency when the difference between escape and injury or death can be measured in seconds,” said Michaels. “Employers must ensure that exit routes are unobstructed at all locations.”

“One means of preventing recurring hazards is for employers to establish an effective comprehensive workplace safety and health program through which involve their employees in proactively evaluating, identifying and eliminating hazards,” said Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York.

A fact sheet covering emergency exit routes is available at http://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_General_Facts/emergency-exit-routes-factsheet.pdf.

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