E.N. Range Inc. in Miami, Fla., has been cited for more than $2 million for exposing workers to lead and other hazards.

 OSHA has issued citations to E.N. Range Inc. in Miami, Fla., alleging the company knowingly neglected to protect employees who clean gun ranges from serious overexposure to lead. It also provided, without medical supervision, non-FDA-approved treatments for lead exposure. The company was cited for more than 50 violations of the lead standard and others, with total proposed penalties of $2,099,600.

“This company was well aware of what it needed to do to protect its workers from a well known hazard. It not only failed to provide that protection, it misled employees - most of whom had limited knowledge of English - into believing that it was providing them with appropriate medical treatment,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “Such a blatant disregard for the health of workers will not be tolerated under this administration.”

E.N. Range has been cited for 42 willful and serious violations of the lead standard with proposed penalties of $1,884,000. OSHA’s lead standard requires employers to protect their workers from lead exposure which can cause many serious health issues including brain damage, paralysis, kidney disease, and even death.

OSHA’s lead standard also addresses the use of chelating agents, which are medicines intended to reduce blood levels that can have significant adverse side effects. The standard prohibits the use of these agents prophylactically, and permits their therapeutic use only under the supervision of a physician in an appropriate clinical setting. Willful citations were issued alleging that E.N. Range violated this provision by giving its workers non-FDA-approved chelating agents without medical supervision.

“This is an egregious situation where the employer deliberately refused to provide the necessary protections to keep workers safe from overexposure to lead,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. “The company even knew its workers suffered from lead poisoning, yet avoided proper medical attention in favor of providing an unapproved and potentially unsafe treatment.”

The citations allege that E.N. Range did not use engineering controls to prevent overexposure to lead, perform air sampling to determine the extent of its workers’ exposure, provide showers for workers who had been exposed to lead, or provide blood testing to exposed workers every six months, all of which are required by the lead standard.

The company was also found in violation of the respiratory protection standard for failing to provide medical evaluations and fit testing for respirators. Additionally, the company is being cited for failing to abate a previously-cited violation discovered during an inspection in February 2009. That failure-to-abate notice charges that the employer had neglected to implement a job rotation schedule to reduce lead exposures. The company is also being cited for additional serious violations, including a spliced electrical cable and failure to ensure the blades of a box fan were adequately guarded.

OSHA cites AAR Summa Technology in Huntsville, Ala., with proposed penalties of $191,500 for 22 safety and health violations

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued 22 citations against AAR Summa Technology for exposing workers to safety and health hazards at its Huntsville plant. Proposed penalties total $191,500.

“Management needs to show a commitment to worker safety and health consistent with this company’s ranking as one of the top defense contractors in the world,” said Roberto Sanchez, OSHA’s area director in Birmingham, Ala.

OSHA began its inspection in February after receiving a complaint about hazards at the facility, which produces military aircraft parts. Two willful safety violations were issued for failing to provide proper lockout/tagout procedures of energy sources for workers performing maintenance and service functions on machinery, and for failing to provide protective machine guards on equipment.

Sixteen serious safety violations were issued for failing to repair or replace hooks used to lift and hold shop fabricated lifting devices, allowing materials to obstruct the exit pathways, failing to properly maintain machinery, exposing workers to electrical hazards, failing to train workers on hazards associated with aluminum dust, and using excessively pressurized compressed air to clean off parts.

Three serious health violations were issued for exposing workers to noise hazards, failing to perform audiometric tests on employees and failing to train workers on hazards related to noise.

A repeat health violation was issued for failing to provide a site-specific written respiratory protection program. A repeat violation is issued when an employer previously was cited for the same or a similar violation of any standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last three years.

SEATTLE – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Boise Area Office has cited AmeriCold Logistics LLC for alleged violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act related to unsafe working conditions at the company’s Nampa, Idaho, facility.

“Many of the alleged violations cited were for deficiencies in AmeriCold Logistics’ process safety management, or PSM, program,” said Richard S. Terrill, OSHA’s regional administrator in Seattle. “When properly implemented, PSM programs help ensure that operations involving hazardous chemicals are performed in a safe manner.”

OSHA conducted an inspection under its Chemical Industry National Emphasis Program at the AmeriCold Logistics Nampa facility and found seven alleged serious, four alleged repeat violations and one other-than-serious violation carrying a total of $153,000 in proposed penalties.

The serious violations involve worker exposure to hazards due to: failure to protect ammonia piping from forklift impact; failure to locate discharge pipes in a safe location; failure to implement recommendations from the process hazard team; failure to replace pressure relief valves as recommended; failure to design the PSM covered system; unguarded exposed parts of horizontal shafting and lack of an adequate respirator for employees. Serious citations are issued when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from hazards about which the employer knew or should have known.

The repeat violations include unguarded open sided floors or platforms; a lack of piping and instrument diagrams for equipment in safety information; a lack of written procedures to maintain equipment and of inspection and testing of equipment and wiring methods; and equipment and installations of equipment in hazardous locations that are not safe or approved for such areas. A repeat violation is issued when an employer previously was cited for the same or similar violation of any standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facilities in federal enforcement states within the last three years.

The other-than-serious violation involves unguarded stairway floor openings.

Penalties total $153,000. AmeriCold Logistics LLC has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director in Boise, Idaho, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Atlanta Intown Granite Company has been cited by Federal OSHA for continuing to expose its employees to health hazards more than a year after OSHA had cited the company for similar violations.

OSHA is proposing $133,875 in penalties against the company for exposing workers to excess amounts of silica by not fully implementing a respiratory protection program, failing to fully implement a hearing conservation program and failing to establish a written hazard communication program on exposure to hazardous substances.

Exposure to silica can lead to silicosis, a disabling, nonreversible and sometimes fatal lung disease. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health reports that each year more than 250 people die from and hundreds more are disabled by silicosis.

“Silica and noise exposure remain serious hazards to employees at work, but both hazards are 100 percent preventable if employers fully implement protection programs,” said Andre Richards, director of OSHA’s Atlanta-West Area Office.
OSHA inspected this company in September 2008 and cited it with five serious violations for similar hazards. The current inspection followed up on the earlier one to determine if the hazards had been corrected.

The agency also is citing the stone countertop manufacturer with one serious safety violation and a proposed penalty of $2,000 for not equipping portable tools with machine guards.

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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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Jan. 8, 2010
Contact: Office of Communications
Phone: 202-693-1999

New OSHA videos provide respirator and facemask safety guidance

WASHINGTON — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has developed two new videos for healthcare workers that feature training and guidance on respirator safety.

OSHA’s “Respirator Safety” video demonstrates how to correctly put on and take off common types of respirators, such as N95s. “The Difference between Respirators and Surgical Masks” video explains how they prevent exposure to infectious diseases.

“Respirators play an important role in protecting many workers from exposure to chemical and biological hazards in the workplace,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA David Michaels. “At a time when pandemic influenza has highlighted the risk to healthcare workers, these videos will prepare and protect workers from the very illnesses they are responsible for treating.”

The videos also explain how workers can perform a user seal check to test whether a respirator is worn properly and will provide the expected level of protection. Viewers may watch both English and Spanish versions by visiting OSHA’s Respiratory Protection page or the Department of Labor’s YouTube site.

According to OSHA’s respiratory protection standard 29 CFR 1910.134, respirators must be used as part of a comprehensive respiratory protection plan.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure safe and healthful working conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

http://www.youtube.com/usdepartmentoflabor#p/u/4/Tzpz5fko-fg

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OSHA issued CES Environmental Services Inc. 15 willful and 54 serious citations after an investigation into a fatal explosion at the company’s Griggs Road facility in Houston Texas. Proposed penalties total $1,477,500.In July 2009, an employee cleaning a tank was killed in an explosion when an altered piece of equipment ignited flammable vapors inside the tank. The fatality was the third death in less than a year at this employer’s facilities; two hydrogen sulfide exposure-related deaths at a related facility, Port Arthur Chemical & Environmental Services LLC (PACES), occurred in December 2008 and April 2009.

“Proper precaution prevents deaths,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “Employers should take steps to eliminate hazards and provide a safe working environment for their workers. That is the law.”

Based on the most recent investigation, OSHA has issued 15 willful citations with proposed penalties totaling $1,050,000, alleging that 15 pieces of electrical equipment were unsafe to use in the tank wash area due to the presence of flammable and combustible vapors. Two additional willful citations with proposed penalties totaling $125,000 have been issued. One alleges that CES failed to ventilate tanks in which employees were working, exposing the workers to toxic atmospheric hazards. The other alleges that CES stored flammable and reactive chemicals together, which posed fire and explosion hazards.

In addition, OSHA has issued 54 serious violations with proposed penalties totaling $302,500. These include allegations that CES failed to implement all aspects of the process safety management standard; provide proper respiratory protection, confined space rescue equipment and adequate fall protection; properly install and maintain boiler equipment; implement an emergency response plan, and adequate energy control procedures; train powered industrial truck operators; guard and to anchor machinery adequately; store compressed gas cylinders safely; and label hazardous chemicals.

OSHA previously cited PACES following the Dec.18, 2008 and the April 14, 2009, fatalities and proposed penalties of $16,600 and $207,800, respectively. Both of those fatalities occurred in Port Arthur, Texas. Those citations were contested and are being litigated before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. CES and PACES together employ 155 workers.

See related Articles:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/6798145.html

http://ohsonline.com/articles/2010/01/04/osha-sends-message-with-filing.aspx?admgarea=news
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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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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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Cranesville Aggregate Co., doing business as Scotia Bag Plant, Scotia, N.Y., faces a total of $509,000 in proposed fines from OSHA. The plant, which bags cement and asphalt, has been cited for 33 alleged willful, repeat and serious violations of workplace safety and health standards following comprehensive OSHA inspections over the past six months.

OSHA representatives felt workers have been needlessly exposed to potentially disabling or fatal respiratory illness, falls, crushing injuries, burns, lacerations, amputation and electrocution.

OSHA found that plant employees who bagged cement were exposed to excess levels of cement dust without adequate ventilation, respiratory protection, personal protective equipment and training. In addition, the plant did not evaluate and identify respiratory hazards, train forklift operators or prevent an employee from working under a suspended load. As a result, OSHA has issued the plant six willful citations, with $375,000 in fines.

Seven repeat citations, with $75,000 in fines, have been issued for conditions similar to those cited in earlier OSHA inspections of Cranesville facilities in Kingston, Glens Falls and Fishkill, N.Y. These included an unsanitary workplace, unlabeled containers of hazardous chemicals, and fall and electrical hazards. Twenty serious citations, with $59,000 in fines, have been issued for ineffective respirator training, a lack of personal protective equipment, a lack of emergency eyewashes, obstructed exits, unguarded machinery, and additional forklift and electrical hazards.

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