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On December 16th David Michaels the new Director of OSHA gave a speech at the NIOSH “Going Green” workshop. His speech was titled “Making Green Jobs Safe: Integrating Occupational Safety & Health into Green and Sustainability” where he laid out his five principles for OSHA for the Going Green initiative. But clearly these principles are for OSHA as a whole and not just for the “Green” industry.

Briefly these Principles are:

To require that every employer establish a Comprehensive Workplace Safety and Health Program that features management leadership, worker participation, and structure for continual improvement. 

Significant movement in the area of chemical safety. Expect to hear a lot this year about REACH (Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals).

Prevention through design. He admitted in his speech he doesn’t really know what this will look like.

Step up OSHA rulemaking and streamline the process.

The last principle Michaels calls “Enhancing the worker’s voice”. However, the majority of the time he spent on this item he talked about inaccurate injury and illness recordkeeping and the Recordkeeping National Emphasis Program.

To read his entire speech you can click here.

If there is anything we here at Advanced Safety & Health can do to help you with your safety needs in 2010 please don’t hesitate to give us a call or send and email.

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OSHA cites Walt Disney World following monorail collision and issues recommendation letter following actor’s death.

ORLANDO, Fla. — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Walt Disney World for safety violations following the fatality of a monorail driver in July and issued a recommendation letter concerning the death of an actor during a stage production at the theme park in August.

In early July, one worker was killed when two monorail trains collided while switching tracks. One was holding while another was being removed from the loop and transferred to the express loop where it would travel to the maintenance shop. The command was given for the switching operation to move one train to the express loop, but switch beams eight and nine were not locked into position or energized. When one train traveled in reverse it remained on the loop and struck the other train, fatally injuring the operator.

Walt Disney World is being cited with a serious violation for not providing a place of employment free from recognized hazards that could cause death or serious harm by exposing employees to struck-by collision hazards.  In other words the “General Duty Clause”, because OSHA couldn’t find an actual standard that had been violated. 

During the monorail investigation, inspectors observed three violations unrelated to the fatality. Two repeat violations are being cited for exposing employees to fall hazards without fall protection and not providing educational training for monorail employees in the use of a portable fire extinguisher. A serious violation was found as well in which a drill press did not have a guard installed.

Additionally, on Aug. 8, an actor was fatally injured from injuries sustained during the Pirates of the Caribbean tutorial stage show when he hit a concrete wall on a new stage, which had opened in July. While no OSHA violations are being proposed for the incident, the agency is recommending that employees rehearse on new stages before their first live performance.

“With the monorail, Disney should have put procedures in place that would have prevented the fatal crash from occurring,” said OSHA Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels. “Employers need to take effective and ongoing corrective action to protect the health and safety of their workers. In the case of the actor’s death, OSHA feels that greater familiarity with the new stage might have changed the outcome.”

OSHA has proposed a total of $44,000 in penalties against the company for the monorail incident, including a penalty of $7,000 for the serious violation related to the fatality, the maximum amount allowed for a serious citation.

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Here is the scenario:

• An employee reports to work.
• A few hours later, the employee goes outside for a “smoke break.”
• The employee slips on the ice and injures his back.

Since the employee was not performing a task related to the employee’s work, the company has deemed this incident non-work related and therefore not recordable.

Right or wrong?

Response: Under Section 1904.5(b)(2)(v), an injury or illness is not work-related if it is solely the result of an employee doing personal tasks (unrelated to their employment) at the establishment “outside of the employee’s assigned working hours”. In order for this exception to apply, the case must meet both of the stated conditions. The exception does not apply here because the injury or illness occurred within normal working hours. Therefore, your case in question is work-related, and if it meets the general recording criteria under Section 1904.7 the case must be recorded.

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December 29th 2009

Freehold, NJ, company fails to comply with federal court order in OSHA whistleblower case; US marshals seize vehicle

U.S. marshals accompanied by special agents from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General today seized a vehicle at the residence of Richard Kohler, president of Brocon Petroleum Inc., after Brocon Petroleum and Kohler failed to pay $7,500 in back wages to a former employee. The back wages were the result of a consent judgment filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey to resolve a lawsuit filed by the Labor Department in March 2008.  

The suit was filed after OSHA found the company had violated the whistleblower provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act. An investigation by OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program found the defendants had terminated the employee in retaliation because they suspected he had called OSHA and caused an inspection. The defendants fired the complainant following the inspection of the employer’s worksite conducted by OSHA in response to an anonymous complaint about safety practices at the worksite. Under the consent judgment, Brocon Petroleum had agreed to pay the former employee’s back wages in addition to removing all reference to suspension or discharge from the employee’s personnel file and posting a notice notifying current employees of their whistleblower rights. However, the company failed to comply with the monetary terms of the consent judgment.

“This action should send a clear message that there will be consequences for retaliating against employees who engage in activities protected by law,” says Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York. “While OSHA is best known for ensuring the safety and health of employees, it is also a whistleblower protection agency.”




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OSHA has cited Chapman Printing Co. in Huntington, WV for workplace safety and health violations. Proposed penalties total $158,400.

OSHA initiated its inspection on June 18 in response to a complaint. As a result of the investigation, the company has been issued citations for six willful violations, with a penalty of $126,000; eight serious violations, with a penalty of $27,900; and five other-than-serious violations, with a penalty of $4,500

The willful violations address OSHA’s belief that the company failed to provide adequate energy control procedures and a hearing conservation program. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to, or intentional disregard for, employee safety and health.

The serious violations include a lack of machine guarding, failure to conduct a hazard assessment of the workplace to determine the need for personal protective equipment, failure to provide personal protective equipment for employees, and failure to provide and use protective equipment when working on or near energized electrical equipment.

The other-than-serious violations are due to the company’s inadequate recordkeeping.

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Federal OSHA proposes more than $266,000 in penalties against Tucker, Ga., manufacturer following worker amputations. Crespac Inc. is cited with three willful, four repeat and 19 serious safety violations.

Crespac Inc. in Tucker, Ga., has been cited with 34 safety and health violations by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Proposed penalties total $266,400.

“OSHA began its comprehensive safety and health inspection after learning of two separate incidents resulting in amputations within a 30-day period,” said Gei-Thae Breezley, director of OSHA’s Atlanta-East Area Office. “In both instances, management knew of deficiencies but acted with plain indifference by failing to correct the problems in a timely manner that could have prevented these amputations.”

The agency is citing the company with three willful, four repeat, 19 serious and one other-than-serious safety violations, as well as five serious and two other-than-serious health violations. OSHA is proposing penalties of $249,200 for the safety violations and an additional $17,200 for the health violations.

The willful citations result from the company’s failure to ensure that all machines had proper safety guards, functional emergency stop cords and usable safety interlock switches installed on machinery.

The company is being cited for repeat violations related to having slippery and wet floors, lack of safety guards on machines, machines being operated with broken parts and employees being exposed to electrical shocks.

Serious violations include fall hazards, slipping and tripping hazards, entrapment hazards, failure to provide proper fire training and equipment, failure to properly train forklift operators, electrical hazards, noise hazards, exposure to hazardous chemicals and an insufficient respirator program for employees.

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Federal OSHA has cited Solid Waste Transfer & Recycling Inc. for alleged safety and health violations. Proposed penalties total $212,400.

OSHA initiated an inspection on June 3 as part of its program targeting companies in industries with high injury and illness rates. As a result, the company has been issued citations for four willful violations with a penalty of $198,000 and six serious violations with a penalty of $14,400.

The willful violations address the company’s failure to have an adequate lockout procedure and a lack of machine guards. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to, or intentional disregard for, employee safety and health.

The serious violations include blocked exits, inadequate energy control procedures, lack of training, failure to properly mark compressed gas cylinders and effectively close electrical box openings. A serious citation is issued when there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard.

“Lockout procedures are designed to safeguard workers from the unexpected startup of machinery and equipment, or the release of hazardous energy during service or maintenance activities,” said Phil Peist, area director of OSHA’s office in Parsippany, N.J. “It is imperative that the company correct the identified hazards to protect the safety and health of its workers.”

“One means of helping ensure worker safety is for employers is to establish an effective safety and health management system through which they and their employees work together to proactively evaluate, identify and eliminate hazards before they result in injury or illness,” said Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York.

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Cincinnati Contractor Very Familiar to OSHA Hit with More Fines for Exposing Workers to Lead

OSHA levies $321,000 in fines against bridge and tower painter UCL Inc. in Cincinnati for exposing workers to lead

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited bridge and water tower painter UCL Inc. in Cincinnati with alleged willful, egregious and serious violations of federal workplace safety and health standards for exposing workers to lead. Proposed fines total $321,000.

OSHA began its inspection in May where UCL was abrasive blasting paint from two bridge overpasses on I-75 near Middletown, Ohio. The inspection revealed nine alleged willful and two serious violations.

Hazards identified as willful allege a variety of violations of the federal lead in construction standard, including a lack of appropriate respirators and protective clothing, failing to maintain eating areas free of lead contamination and failing to remove lead dust from equipment before workers entered designated eating areas.

Four of the willful violations, relating to the employer’s failure to provide clean protective clothing to workers on a daily basis, are also classified as egregious. By designating violations as egregious, OSHA can assess penalties for each time the violation occurs, rather than proposing a single penalty for all violations of a specific agency regulation.

The two serious violations address an inadequate lead compliance program and failing to provide adequate hand washing facilities for employees.

“Few Americans are aware of lead’s deadly effects or the fact that lead taken home on clothing and work tools can infect an entire family,” said OSHA Area Director Richard Gilgrist in Cincinnati. “The cost of employee and family health is far too great a price to pay for anyone to ignore this hazard. All of us want to see working men and women go home safe and without carrying toxic substances into their homes at the end of every work shift.”

While UCL has been in business since 1999, the company owner previously owned United Painting Co., a business that according to OSHA has been cited repeatedly for lead standard violations. UCL also has received numerous citations, many of which were for violations of federal lead standards. An Aug. 27 fatal accident at another bridge painting worksite of UCL, along the same I-75 construction corridor, is still under investigation.

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