WICHITA, KS – OSHA cited Formation Plastics Inc. in Quinter, KS with one serious and three willful safety and health violations. An inspection was initiated after a worker was fatally crushed between a press mold and the machine’s outer structure in May.

“It is unthinkable that an employer would allow employees to work in and around dangerous equipment that lacked machine guarding as well as appropriate lockout/tagout procedures to control the energy source,” said Charles E. Adkins, OSHA’s regional administrator in Kansas City, MO. “All employers must take the necessary steps to eliminate hazards from the workplace.”

The willful violations, carrying $210,000 in proposed fines, address hazards associated with failing to develop and utilize energy control procedures, failing to train workers in energy control, and exposing workers to moving equipment parts. 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.

The serious violation, with a $7,000 fine, was cited for failing to provide point-of-operation guarding on a punch press. 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 $217,000. Formation Plastics, a custom plastic parts manufacturer, has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director in Wichita, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

The citations can be viewed here.

Federal OSHA issued three Mueller Industries Inc. subsidiaries in Fulton Mississippi 128 citations for allegedly exposing workers to safety and health hazards. The privately-held corporation headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., owns and operates 20 facilities located in eight states and two foreign countries.

OSHA began its investigation in July 2009 after a maintenance worker employed by Mueller Copper Tube Co. Inc., a subsidiary of Mueller Industries, was killed, and two other workers were injured when naphtha, a flammable liquid of hydrocarbon mixtures, leaked from an electric pump and ignited.

“Mueller Industries subsidiaries’ dangerous practices exposed workers at their facilities to a variety of hazards that ultimately took one worker’s life,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. “The significant fines of $683,000 cannot replace this worker’s life or bring peace to the family, but they will go a long way in letting this employer know disregarding worker safety and health will not be tolerated.”

Mueller Copper Tube has been issued willful, repeat and serious citations. A willful citation with a penalty of $40,000 alleges the failure to repair a corroded live electrical disconnect, which exposed workers to electrical shock. Ten repeat citations with penalties of $150,000 allege failure to guard machinery; unsafe electrical equipment and practices; and failure to label hazardous chemicals. Sixty-nine serious citations, with proposed penalties of $223,500, allege unsafe cranes; fall hazards; unsafe ladders; blocked and inadequate exits; unsafe flammable liquid and compressed gas use and storage; locking out hazardous energy sources during maintenance and service; a lack of machine guards; unsafe electrical equipment and practices; and failure to establish a respiratory protection program.

The initial safety inspection at Mueller Cooper Tube was expanded to include Mueller Fittings LLC and Mueller Packaging LLC, two additional subsidiaries of Mueller Industries. Mueller Fittings has been issued 22 serious citations, with penalties of $64,000, alleging the failure to lock out energy sources, unsafe propane storage and handling, overexposure to noise, unsafe material storage, and the likelihood of exposure to bloodborne pathogens. Eight repeat citations also have been issued, with penalties of $102,500, alleging a lack of machine guarding, electrical hazards and the inadequate labeling of hazardous chemicals.

Mueller Packaging has been issued 12 serious citations, with penalties of $28,000, alleging unsafe crane operation, failing to lock out sources of hazardous energy, hazardous chemical exposures, and overexposure to noise; five repeat citations, with penalties of $75,000, alleging an unsafe forklift modification, electrical hazards and inadequate labeling under the hazard communication standard; and one other-than-serious violation, with no penalty, for an electrical deficiency.

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Endres Processing LLC, headquartered in Rosemount, MN., and its subsidiary, Endres Processing Ohio LLC, have been cited by OSHA with safety and health violations that include exposing workers to combustible dust hazards. The firm manufactures an animal feed supplement from unsold bakery products. Proposed fines total $472,900.

OSHA began a health inspection in June after receiving information that fires had occurred in the Ohio plant, and that large amounts of dust from the manufacturing process had accumulated throughout the worksite.

Following the health inspection, OSHA issued four willful violations with penalties totaling $252,000 and five serious violations with penalties totaling $14,900. The willful violations allege the lack of explosion protection, the failure to equip process equipment with combustible dust collection systems, hazardous accumulations of dust, and the use of electrical equipment that was unsafe to use in areas with combustible dust accumulation. The serious violations address hazards from workers breathing the dust, allowing combustible materials in areas where workers were welding, and unsafe electrical equipment and practices. The proposed health violation fines total $266,900.

A safety inspection was also initiated, and OSHA issued two willful violations with penalties totaling $126,000 and 21 serious violations with penalties totaling $80,000 following that inspection. The willful violations allege confined space hazards and failing to train employees in using the fire fighting system. The serious violations allege a variety of hazards. They include fall hazards, problems with emergency exit lighting, failure to train on and exposure to hazardous machine-energy sources, and additional unsafe electrical equipment and practices. The proposed safety violation fines total $206,000.

The Upper Sandusky site, then owned by Advanced Organics Inc., has been inspected twice since 2004, with serious citations issued for fall protection, combustible dust issues, electrical hazards, machine guarding and fall hazards following the earlier inspections.

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Combustible dust, electrical and health hazards cited during inspection

Federal OSHA is proposing $166,950 in penalties against M&B Metal Products Co. and its subcontractor, Oak Mountain Construction Co. An OSHA inspection conducted after a roof collapse at the M&B Metal Products manufacturing plant in Leeds, Ala., revealed 46 alleged safety and health violations.

M&B Metal Products Co. is being assessed one willful violation with a $44,000 fine for allowing explosive paper dust to accumulate on machinery and the shop floor.  The company is also being fined $117,950 for 42 serious violations related to employees’ exposure to struck-by, fall, electrical, and noise hazards.

Oak Mountain Construction Co. received two serious safety violations with $5,000 in penalties for exposing employees to fall hazards and not conducting jobsite inspections to identify fall and roof collapse hazards. Oak Mountain was performing repairs on the roof support system when it collapsed in May.

“Management disregarded employees’ safety and health by requiring them to work in a structurally deficient building and knowingly exposing them to dangerous accumulations of explosive dust,” said Roberto Sanchez, OSHA’s area director in Birmingham.

Outbreak is causing massive recall

Ergon Energy (Australia) workers started suffering from multiple symptoms while wearing potentially toxic uniforms that were provided to wear in the workforce. Blisters and vomiting were some of the reactions while others were going numb and suffering from rashes. Ergon has ordered the employees to cease wearing the uniforms and submitted a claim to CSIRO for testing. The Electrical Trades Union is asking for a recall.

Due to the large number of uniforms being recalled, giant measures are being taken to not only ensure a refund, but to manage the safety of the Ergon Energy workers.  The general managers of operating support services for Ergon has handed out “recall kits” that contain handling instructions, plastic gloves, and a large plastic bag to store the hazardous uniform.   The uniforms will then be removed from all Ergon Energy sites and stored until further instruction is given to the company.These measures are being taken to “ensure the health, safety, well-being and peace of mind of employees and their families.”These uniforms were from a small company importing into Australia. Another reason to KNOW the company you are purchasing from and NOT going with a treater without a track record. There are several treaters with track records all over the world but short term companies might offer great prices. Be alert and ask questions.Read full story with interviews

Designed so OSHA can cite on a per-employee basis

OSHA is proposing to amend its regulations to add language to explicitly state that noncompliance with the personal protective equipment (PPE) and training requirements in its safety and health standards will expose the employer to liability on a per-employee basis. The amendments consist of new paragraphs added to the introductory sections of the listed parts and changes to the language of some existing respirator and training requirements. This action is in response to recent decisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission indicating that differences in wording among the various PPE and training provisions in OSHA safety and health standards affect the Agency’s ability to treat an employer’s failure to provide PPE or training to each covered employee as a separate violation. The amendments add no new compliance obligations. Employers are not required to provide any new type of PPE or training, to provide PPE or training to any employee not already covered by the existing requirements, or to provide PPE or training in a different manner than that already required. The amendments simply clarify the remedy for violations of these requirements.

The proposal discusses several key cases in the history of per-employee citation, such as the Ho decision. This case involved 11 untrained workers directed to remove asbestos without respiratory protection from a Houston building undergoing demolition. OSHRC vacated all but one of the respiratory and one of the training violations, believing that “the plain language of the standard addresses employees in the aggregate, not individually.” This was affirmed, although on different grounds, by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Also discussed is Secretary of Labor v. Manganas Painting Co., (Rev. Comm’n 2007), where OSHRC found the initial respiratory protection paragraph of the 1993 construction lead standard (1926.62(f)(1)) authorizes per-employee citations.

The proposal states “The failure to provide an appropriate respirator to each such employee may expose the employer to per-employee citations.” OSHA said its Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health supports the changes proposed for the construction standards.

Our congratulations go out to one of our clients, Thybar Corporation. On Monday August 11th Thybar’s operation located in Jeffersontown, Kentucky was awarded the Kentucky Governor’s Safety and Health award by Mark Brown, Kentucky Deputy Secretary of Labor. This company is a sheet metal manufacturer of roof curbs and HVAC accessories who opened its Kentucky division in 1997 in a 27,000 square foot facility. The operation has grown to 60,000 square feet and over 60 full time employees.To be eligible for this award, a company with less than 125 employees must work a minimum of 250,000 hours without experiencing a lost time accident or illness. At the time of application, the employees have achieved 395,469 hours and counting. Thybar Corporation’s last lost time accident was recorded on May 19, 2005.

Thybar Corporation has partnered with Advanced Safety & Health the last several years to help them take their safety program to the next level.  This partnership has really paid off for the company and most importantly for the employees. Thybar Corporation has taken a safety first approach with every aspect of manufacturing in their facilities and, with the hard work of all employees, they were able to achieve this goal.