$318,000 in Proposed Fines

Jennie-O Turkey Store Inc. was cited by OSHA for 11 safety violations after a worker’s arm was amputated below the shoulder while the individual was conducting cleaning activities in a confined space. Jennie-O Turkey Store, based in Willmar, MN is a division of Austin, MN headquartered Hormel Foods Corp.

“Jennie-O Turkey Store has a legal responsibility to follow established permit-required confined space regulations to ensure that its employees are properly protected from known workplace hazards,” said Mark Hysell, director of OSHA’s Eau Claire Area Office. “Failing to ensure protection through appropriate training and adherence to OSHA regulations led to a worker losing an arm.”

OSHA initiated an inspection after the July 20, 2011, incident, in which the employee’s arm allegedly became caught in an energized turkey shackle line while the employee was working alone in a confined space. Afterward, the employee had to walk down a flight of 25 stairs and 200 feet across the production floor to get the attention of a co-worker for assistance.

Four willful violations involve not following OSHA’s permit-required confined space regulations in the carbon dioxide tunnel room, including failing to ensure that workers isolated the carbon dioxide gas supply line and locked out power to the shackle line prior to entering the room to conduct cleaning activities, verify that electro-mechanical and atmospheric hazards within the room were eliminated prior to workers entering the space, test atmospheric conditions prior to allowing entry and provide an attendant during entries to the room. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or plain indifference to employee safety and health.

Seven serious violations involve failing to provide fall protection, provide rescue and emergency services equipment, develop procedures to summon rescue and emergency services, provide confined space entry procedures, prepare entry permits for the confined space, train employees and supervisors in entry permit procedures, and ensure that the entry supervisor performed required duties. 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.

In many instances, employees who work in confined spaces face risk of exposure to serious physical injury from hazards such as entrapment, engulfment and hazardous atmospheric conditions. Confinement may also pose entrapment hazards and require employees to work in closer proximity to hazardous machinery components than they would otherwise. Additional information on confined space hazards is available online at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/confinedspaces/index.html.

Based on the violations cited during this latest inspection, OSHA has proposed $318,000 in fines. Jennie–O Turkey Store operates turkey growing and processing facilities in Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as national and international distribution systems. The company employs 1,200 workers at the Barron facility and 5,000 corporatewide. Prior to this inspection, OSHA had inspected the Barron facility four times since 2004, resulting in citations for 12 violations.

The citations can be viewed at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/JennieOTurkeyStoreIncCitationInspection92562.pdf*.

OSHA to Order Company to Comply with Safety Standards

The U.S. Department of Labor’s regional solicitor’s office in Boston has filed a complaint against DeMoulas Super Markets Inc., doing business as Market Basket, with the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The complaint asks the commission to order the Tewksbury, Mass.-based chain to comply with the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s safety standards designed to protect employees from fall and laceration hazards at the employer’s more than 60 stores in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

This request for enterprisewide relief is based upon hazards OSHA found during inspections of various DeMoulas stores, including the agency’s most recent inspections at Market Basket stores in Rindge and Concord, N.H. Those inspections resulted in citations and proposed OSHA fines totaling $589,200, which DeMoulas has contested to the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

“Hazardous conditions at multiple locations that expose employees to serious injuries demand a swift and comprehensive corrective response at the corporate level,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. “OSHA insists that this employer completely and effectively eliminate the hazards it never should have allowed to exist in the first place.”

The department’s complaint alleges that employees at multiple Market Basket stores were exposed or likely to be exposed to fall hazards from unguarded, open-sided work and storage areas, including storage lofts and atop produce coolers and freezers. An employee of the Market Basket store in Rindge was seriously injured in April 2011 when he fell 11 feet onto a concrete floor from an inadequately guarded storage mezzanine, and an employee at a Billerica, Mass., store was seriously injured under similar conditions in 2007.

The company also allegedly failed to protect employees in produce, deli and bakery departments against laceration hazards from knives and cutting instruments by not conducting job hazard analyses that would have identified the need for hand protection, and by not providing such hand protection to workers exposed to the hazards. In 2006, after being cited by OSHA, the company agreed to complete job hazard analyses in all stores but failed to do so. Between 2008 and 2011, employees at the Rindge and Concord stores sustained at least 40 recorded hand lacerations.

“Worker safety is not optional, and it cannot be addressed in a piecemeal fashion. It must be addressed across the board,” said Michaels. “This employer has the responsibility to safeguard all its employees at all its locations, something it has failed to do.”

DeMoulas Super Markets has 20 days from receipt of the complaint to file an answer. Details of OSHA’s inspections of the Rindge and Concord stores and copies of the citations can be found at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/DemoulasSuperMarketsIncdbaMarketBasket_63192_1007_11.pdf.

This complaint filed with the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission marks the second such time that the department has expressly sought enterprisewide relief from an employer. The first time was against the U.S. Postal Service in July 2010 for correction of electrical work safety violations at 350 postal facilities throughout the nation. That matter is pending.

35 Serious Safety and Health Violations Discovered

Remington Arms Co. Inc. was cited by OSHA for 35 alleged serious violations of workplace safety and health standards at its Ilion, NY manufacturing plant. The firearms manufacturer faces a total of $170,000 in proposed penalties for a variety of mechanical, electrical, and chemical hazards identified during inspections by OSHA’s Syracuse Area Office.

“Left uncorrected, these conditions expose the plant’s workers to electrocution, falls, burns, lacerations, amputation, crushing and “struck-by” injuries, as well as exposure to hazardous substances and being caught in operating or unintentionally energized machinery,” said Christopher Adams, OSHA’s area director for central New York. “For the safety and health of these workers, this employer must ensure that these hazards are corrected and take effective steps to prevent their recurrence.

“Specifically, OSHA found violations involving a lack of personal protective equipment; accumulations of toxic substances lead and cadmium on surfaces in the plant; food and beverages stored and consumed at cadmium-contaminated work stations; failing to provide workers with training and information on lead and cadmium; and not determining cadmium exposure levels. The inspection also identified numerous electrical hazards and instances of unguarded moving machine parts; improper storage and transfer of flammable liquids; a lack of procedures to lock out machines’ power sources to prevent their unintended startup during maintenance; unguarded openings and defective ladders; defective powered industrial trucks and untrained drivers; inadequate fire extinguisher training and availability; unlabeled permit-required confined spaces; no continuous, effective extermination program for vermin; unlabeled containers of hazardous chemicals; and several exit deficiencies including a locked exit door, obstructed exit routes, umarked exits, and non-functioning emergency and exit lighting. 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.

“An effective illness and injury prevention program in which employers and employees work together to identify and eliminate hazards is one way of preventing initial and recurring workplace hazards such as these,” said Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional director in New York.

The citations can be viewed at

http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/RemingtonArms_314352477_1104_11.pdf
and http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/RemingtonArms_314352329_1104_11.pdf

EAP, Fall Protection, PPE among Many Problems

OSHA cited Sigma Processed Meats Inc. for 16 serious and three repeat violations following an inspection that found workers were exposed to fall and other hazards at the company’s processing plant in Seminole, OK. Proposed penalties total $204,800.

OSHA’s Oklahoma City Area Office began its investigation June 1 at the company’s plant on East Goodhope Road after receiving a complaint. Serious violations include failing to provide guardrails as fall protection for employees working on elevated walking/working surfaces, provide an adequate emergency action plan, provide personal protective equipment such as goggles or face shields, train employees on the use of hazardous chemicals and address hazards created by deficiencies in the company’s process safety management system for anhydrous ammonia. Anhydrous ammonia is used for the refrigeration system. 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.

The repeat violations include failing to develop and implement a lockout/tagout program for isolation of energy sources as well as to provide training for employees on the use of lockout/tagout devices. 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.“Failure to effectively implement OSHA’s safety and health regulations to protect workers from potential hazards could lead to serious injury or death. OSHA will not tolerate such negligence,” said David Bates, OSHA’s area director in Oklahoma City.

The citations can be viewed here and here.

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Company Placed in Severe Violator Enforcement Program

OSHA has cited Midsouth Steel Inc. of Atlanta for four safety violations following an inspection that found workers exposed to fall hazards while performing roofing work on Roosevelt Highway in Union City, GA. Proposed penalties total $184,800.

OSHA initiated the inspection as part of a local emphasis program protecting workers in the construction industry from falls. Midsouth Steel, a general contractor performing steel fabrication and roof decking, had been contracted by MBA Waste Service of Atlanta to build a 44,000-square-foot recycling facility in Union City.Three willful violations with $184,800 in fines were cited for exposing workers to fall hazards by allowing them to work at heights of 35 feet in an aerial lift without requiring the use of fall protection, exceeding an aerial lift’s load capacity and failing to provide fall protection for employees working on a steep pitched roof.

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. Additionally, one other-than-serious violation with no monetary penalty was cited for failing to provide certification that the site supervisor received proper forklift operator training and evaluation. 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.

“Management knowingly exposed its workers to fall hazards because they were more concerned with completing the job faster than providing a safe work site,” said Andre C. Richards, director of OSHA’s Atlanta-West Area Office. “It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that workers are safe on the job.”

OSHA has placed Midsouth Steel in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which mandates targeted follow-up inspections to ensure compliance with the law. Initiated in June 2010, the program focuses on recalcitrant employers that endanger workers by committing willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations.

For more information on SVEP, visit here. View the company’s citations.

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Market Basket Store Failed to Call Emergency Services after Employee Fall Injury

CONCORD, NH – OSHA cited DeMoulas Supermarkets Inc., doing business as Market Basket, for 30 alleged willful, repeat and serious violations of workplace safety standards at its stores in Rindge and Concord, N.H. The Tewksbury, Mass., grocery chain, which has stores in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, faces a total of $589,200 in proposed fines, chiefly for recurring fall and laceration hazards and also for improperly responding to a worker’s serious injury.

“Employers with multiple locations have a responsibility to ensure safe and healthful working conditions at all of their workplaces,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. “This employer has been cited for similar conditions at numerous other stores. Although those individual hazards were abated, this employer has not taken effective steps to correct these hazards across the board.”

The inspection of the Market Basket store in Rindge on U.S. Route 202 began after an employee sustained broken bones and head trauma on April 17 when he fell 11 feet to a concrete floor from an inadequately guarded storage mezzanine. Instead of calling for emergency help, store management lifted the injured worker from the floor, put him in a wheelchair and pushed him to the store’s receiving dock to wait for a relative to take him to the hospital. The Concord store inspection began May 16 after an OSHA supervisor observed the same type of fall hazard as the one at the Rindge store while shopping at the Market Basket store on Fort Eddy Road.

OSHA found that employees at both stores were exposed to falls from heights greater than 11 feet while working on top of produce coolers, freezers and storage lofts that lacked adequate guardrails. OSHA previously had cited DeMoulas for the same hazard at the Concord store as well as stores in Fitchburg, Lawrence and Tewksbury, Mass.

Employees who worked in the produce, deli and bakery departments at the Rindge and Concord stores also were exposed to laceration hazards from knives due to the grocery chain’s failure to conduct a hazard assessment and provide hand protection. DeMoulas previously was cited by OSHA for the same types of hazards at its Tewksbury and Westford, MA locations. Due to the company’s knowledge of the fall and laceration hazards and its systemic failure to correct them, OSHA cited four willful violations with $261,000 in proposed penalties. A willful violation exists when an employer has demonstrated either an intentional disregard for the requirements of the law or plain indifference to employee safety and health.

Additionally, DeMoulas Supermarkets has been cited for seven repeat violations with $225,500 in fines for hazardous conditions similar to those previously cited at its Ashland, Andover, Fitchburg, Salem, Tewksbury and Westford, Mass., locations. These citations encompass amputation hazards stemming from a lack of procedures, training and equipment to ensure that a meat saw and seafood cooler would not be activated while employees were cleaning them, as well as hazards from exposed portions of the saw’s blade; inadequate training of powered industrial truck operators; and a lack of bloodborne pathogen training for an employee required to clean equipment and work areas contaminated with human blood. 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.

Finally, the company has been cited for 19 serious violations with $102,700 in proposed penalties. One violation was cited under OSHA’s general duty clause for failing to contact emergency services and for moving the injured employee. The remaining 18 violations involve obstructed exit routes; a lack of eye and hand protection and an emergency eyewash for employees working with or near battery acid; a lack of chemical hazard communication training for workers; and other hazards related to electrical equipment, machine guarding and bloodborne pathogens. 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.

The citations can be viewed here.

http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/DemoulasSuperMarketsIncdbaMarketBasket_63192_1007_11.pdf

http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/DemoulasSuperMarketsIncdbaMarketBasket_29247_1007_11.pdf

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.

Two Texas trailer manufacturers under same ownership hit hard by OSHA for noise hazards, toxic fumes and other violations; fines total nearly $950,000

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited PJ Trailers Manufacturing Co. Inc. and Delco Trailers Co. Inc., a similar company owned by PJ Trailers, for seven willful, 26 serious, nine repeat and four other-than-serious violations. OSHA inspectors found workers exposed to unguarded machinery, fall hazards and accumulations of potentially hazardous dust, among other violations. Proposed penalties total $949,800.

“Employers have a responsibility to keep their workers safe and healthy. Willful and repeat citations, as well as significant penalties, reflect the fact that management knew workers were exposed to dangerous conditions yet failed to provide them with basic safety protections. That choice is unacceptable and needlessly placed these workers’ health and safety at risk,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels.

PJ Trailers Manufacturing and Delco Trailers are commonly owned, with the same president and management. They share a work site, a human resources division and a safety and health manager, and they have interrelated and integrated operations. PJ Trailers and Delco Trailers previously had been cited by OSHA for many of the same hazards that the agency found during its most recent inspection. Although the company had certified abatement of the prior hazardous conditions, many of the fixes were later abandoned to accommodate production. Since 2008, at least 15 workers have suffered eye injuries requiring medical treatment and or days away from work.

OSHA’s Dallas Area Office initiated a safety and health inspection at the company’s facility at 1807 Farm to Market 2352 in Sumner following receipt of a complaint that employees were not adequately protected from being injured by rotating machinery parts, and employees were exposed to toxic welding fumes while fabricating trailers and noise levels above approved health standards.

The willful violations involve failing to provide fall protection for employees working on stacked trailers, provide adequate machine guarding to prevent “caught-in” or “caught-between injuries,” provide employees with proper eye protection during cutting and welding operations, and establish and maintain an audiometric testing program. Audiometric testing is required when employees are exposed to high noise levels to determine if their hearing is being adversely affected. 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.

Repeat violations include failing to ensure that all spray booth areas were kept free from accumulated powder coating, guard several pieces of hazardous machinery, have all necessary lockout/tagout procedures, provide training on existing lockout/tagout procedures to protect employees from hazardous machinery starting up unexpectedly and ensure that medical evaluations were completed to determine employees’ ability to use respirators. 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. OSHA cited the company in September and October of 2006 and March 2010 for similar violations.

Serious violations include failing to provide required fall protection, provide training on electrical hazards and prevent exposure to welding fumes in excess of the average allowed during an 8-hour shift. 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.

Other-than-serious violations include failing to enter recordable injuries and illnesses on the OSHA 300 log within seven calendar days and properly certify the OSHA 300A form or its equivalent. 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.

The workers’ compensation carrier insuring PJ Trailers and Delco Trailers is Farmington Casualty Co.

The citations can be viewed at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/PJTrailers314181926.pdf* http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/PJTrailers314181876.pdf*.

Last month OSHA issued a hazard alert about the dangers of using scissor lifts to film events and functions. Scissor lifts are portable, hydraulic-powered lifts that are commonly used by colleges and high schools to film athletic and band activities.

Last October, a 20-year-old University of Notre Dame student employee was killed while filming the team’s football practice from a scissor lift that was blown over by high winds. The worker, who reportedly was not trained to properly operate the equipment, raised the lift more than 39 feet into the air on a day in which winds exceeded 50 miles per hour. At the conclusion of OSHA’s investigation they cited the university for five serious and one willful violations netting $77,500 in violations.  Every single citation was the “General Duty “clause.

A few years back while attending another sporting event one of our staff spotted a camera man on a lift where they had removed the railing from the lift and provided the camera man no fall protection.  See photo.

The alert lists hazards associated with scissor lifts such as using the equipment during high winds or bad weather; overloading the equipment with heavy objects; removing the guardrails during operation; and driving the lift on uneven or unstable ground.

Employers can minimize scissor lift hazards by establishing safe work practices, including inspecting the lift before use; safely moving, positioning, and stabilizing the lift; selecting safe work locations; and identifying weather conditions that prevent use. Additional key safety practices include putting the scissor lift on a firm level surface, setting brakes and stabilizing the lift before raising it, and maintaining a 10 foot clearance from electrical power sources and overhead hazards such as tree branches.

Hazards can be further reduced by training workers on how to operate scissor lifts safely, making sure that the scissor lift has a guardrail system for fall protection, and operating and maintaining the lift according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.

OSHA’s Scaffolding eTool and Safety and Health Topics page on Scaffolding provide additional guidance on the hazards and requirements for using scissor lifts.

OSHA proposes more than $1.9 million in fines against Alabama lumber mill for egregious and other safety violations

A lumber mill in Phenix Alabama is no stranger to Federal OSHA.  The latest visit has caused OSHA to propose penalties of $1,939,000 to the company and its principal, John M. Dudley, for egregious and other safety violations, including exposing employees to amputation and fall hazards.

Prior to these citations, Phenix Lumber Company had been cited 77 times by OSHA for serious safety and health violations since 2007.

“Phenix Lumber continues to put workers at risk by choosing not to implement safety measures that would prevent serious injuries to their employees,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “Employers have a responsibility to keep their workers safe and healthy. One worker injured on the job is one too many.”

OSHA began an inspection on Dec. 15, 2010, in response to a complaint that employees working in the planer mill were exposed to amputation hazards while maintaining, cleaning and clearing jams on pieces of machinery that did not have their energy sources locked out to prevent their unexpected start up. Two months later, OSHA received a second complaint that an employee had suffered a partial finger amputation while clearing a piece of machinery that had not been locked out. At the opening of an inspection following the second complaint, the compliance officer learned of another employee who had just suffered a severe hand injury while working on unguarded machinery. Phenix Lumber had been cited numerous times during the past four years for allowing employees to work on unguarded machinery while it was operating.

“This situation reflects a systemic problem with the way this company approaches safety and demonstrates an egregious disregard for workers’ safety and health,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels.

OSHA has issued Phenix Lumber 13 citations for 24 willful violations, including failure to properly shut down and lock out 13 pieces of machinery before employees were required to perform tasks such as clearing jams and cleaning. These failures exposed employees to amputation hazards, as well as to the possibility of being caught between or struck by pieces of the machinery and falling lumber. The employer also failed to train 11 employees who performed this work on the hazards and how to shut down and lock out the machinery so that they could perform their tasks safely. OSHA proposed the maximum $70,000 penalty for each violation, totaling $1,680,000.

Citations for three additional willful violations allege that a worker was exposed to fall hazards while working from the top of a machine, locks were not issued to employees as required by the lockout standard, and the company failed to follow established lockout/tagout procedures. These citations carry additional penalties of $70,000 each, for a total of $210,000.

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. OSHA may propose separate penalties for distinct willful violations of the same OSHA standard where one or more of the seven criteria are met as identified in the OSHA directive “Handling of Cases to be Proposed for Violation-By-Violation” (compliance directive 02-00-080). The criteria include that the employer’s conduct taken as a whole amounts to clear bad faith in the performance of duties under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

One citation for a repeat violation with a $35,000 fine was issued for failing to place machine guards on seven chains and sprockets. A violation is “repeated” if the employer previously was cited for a substantially similar condition, and the citation is a final, affirmed order of the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. This time is the third within three years that Phenix Lumber has been cited for failing to guard this type of equipment.

Citations for two serious violations, each with a maximum proposed penalty of $7,000, were issued for failing to guard a pinch point at a hydraulic pusher plate, which exposed employees to amputation hazards and caused one of the injuries; and to ensure that employees performing lockout/tagout tasks applied and removed their own locks. 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.

Copies of the citations are available at http://www.osha.gov/dep/citations/MDLGPhenixLumber315135954.pdf* and http://www.osha.gov/dep/citations/MDLGPhenixLumber315111930.pdf*.

OSHA

has proposed that the employer be included in the agency’s Severe Violators Enforcement Program. Initiated in 2010, the program is intended to focus on 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; exposure to hazards related to the potential releases of highly hazardous chemicals; and all instance-by-instance enforcement actions under compliance directive 02-00-080. Inclusion in the program subjects employers to mandatory follow-up inspections; increased company/corporate awareness of OSHA enforcement; and, where appropriate, corporate-wide agreements, enhanced settlement provisions and federal court enforcement under Section 11(b) of the OSH Act. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov/dep/svep-directive.pdf*.