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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OSHA issued citations to Cambria Contracting Inc. for 11 alleged willful violations of the OSHA construction asbestos standard for failing to train and protect its workers at a Buffalo jobsite. The Lockport, N.Y., demolition contractor faces a total of $484,000 in proposed penalties.

“These significant penalties reflect the fact that this employer, an asbestos contractor with extensive knowledge of the OSHA standards that govern asbestos removal and handling, chose not to follow these standards and put its workers, including young, inexperienced college students, in harm’s way,” said acting Assistant Secretary for OSHA Jordan Barab.

OSHA found that several Cambria Contracting workers, who were cleaning up debris at the former AM&A department store warehouse on Washington Avenue, had not been trained in asbestos hazards and how to protect themselves. The workers also lacked proper respirators and protective clothing, and had not been informed of the presence of asbestos at the site. In addition, the employer failed to determine the asbestos exposure level and to establish a regulated work area for asbestos removal and handling. It also did not use vacuums with HEPA filters to collect debris but used methods to move debris with asbestos-containing material that typically can cause asbestos to be released into the air.

“This employer knew that training and other safeguards, which are well-known in the industry, were required, yet chose not to provide them,” said Robert Kulick, OSHA’s New York regional administrator. “That is unacceptable and needlessly placed the health of these workers at risk.”

“Asbestos is well recognized as a health hazard since inhalation of asbestos fibers may lead to lung cancer and other diseases,” said Arthur Dube, OSHA’s Buffalo area director. “As exposures frequently occur during renovation and demolition work, we strongly urge contractors to ensure that their workers are adequately trained and protected against asbestos hazards.”

Detailed information on asbestos is available on OSHA’s Web site at:

http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/asbestos/index.html

and http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/asbestos/construction.html

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OSHA is proposing $69,550 in penalties against Wheel Repair Solutions, doing business as World of Wheels & Hubcaps, for safety and health violations at its Decatur, Ga., location.

OSHA observed seven failure-to-abate violations while conducting a follow-up inspection at World of Wheels & Hubcaps. The employer failed to develop a written hazard communication program, failed to provide a hazard communication training, failed to certify that a hazard assessment for personal protection had been conducted, failed to develop or implement a written respiratory protection program, and did not train workers who wear tight-fitting respirators. In addition, the employer allowed workers to use compressed air greater than 30 pounds square inch (PSI) for cleaning and did not provide employees with hazard communications training. The proposed penalty for the failure-to-abate violations is $66,750.

The citations also include three repeat violations with a proposed penalty of $2,800 for employees wearing tight-fitting respirators without a medical evaluation and not being fit-tested for the equipment, and for the employer storing compressed cylinders of oxygen and acetylene together.

The company has received one other-than-serious violation with no monetary penalty for not having a visible exit sign.

“All workers deserve a safe workplace. This company is fully aware of what needs to be corrected with its safety and health program. It is time that World of Wheels & Hubcaps takes responsibility for its employees’ safety and health,” said Gei-Thae Breezley, director of OSHA’s Atlanta-East Area Office.

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OSHA has cited Industrial Pipe Fittings LLC (IPF) for 47 alleged serious violations following an inspection at the company’s facility in Corsicana.

OSHA’s Fort Worth Area Office began its inspection on April 20 when a worker had his hand crushed in-between a rotating, unguarded drum drive wheel and pipe while performing an overwrapping operation at the drum drive wheel machine station. The serious violations include failing to provide machine guarding on lathes, drum drive wheels and saws; provide fall protective equipment, ensure workers are protected from electrical hazards, provide training for forklift operations and hazard communication.

“This company failed to provide a safe and healthful working environment for its workers,” said Zachary Barnett, OSHA’s area director in Fort Worth. “If OSHA’s standards were followed, it is possible this serious injury could have been avoided.”

The other-than-serious violations included failing to meet OSHA’s respiratory requirements by informing workers of the precautions and use of wearing a respirator and failing to provide a written personal protective equipment hazard assessment.

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The Dodge Co. Inc. cited for 41 safety and health hazards. Formaldehyde and other hazards lead to $138,000 in U.S. Labor Department OSHA fines for embalming fluid manufacturer.

OSHA has cited The Dodge Co. Inc. for 41 alleged violations of workplace safety and health standards at its Cambridge, Mass., production plant. The embalming fluid manufacturer faces $138,000 in fines for inadequate safeguards involving formaldehyde stored and used in manufacturing processes at the plant as well as for various chemical, mechanical, and electrical hazards. These were identified during comprehensive OSHA inspections conducted over the past several months.

OSHA found that the plant lacked a process safety management (PSM) program. They also discovered that the plants procedures to proactively assess and address hazards associated with processes and equipment using large amounts of formaldehyde. It was also noted that the plant also lacked controls and other safeguards to reduce the levels of formaldehyde to which some workers were overexposed.

OSHA also identified numerous deficiencies in the plant’s respiratory protection, emergency response, hazardous energy control, chemical hygiene and chemical hazard communication programs as well as electrical hazards, unguarded moving machine parts, untrained forklift operators, failure to maintain work floors in a clean condition, and the use of unapproved forklifts where flammables are used.

“Workers’ exposure to excess formaldehyde levels can impact their health, while the other conditions cited here pose more acute safety hazards,” said Paul Mangiafico, OSHA’s area director for Middlesex and Essex counties. “All of these hazards must be effectively corrected for the safety and health of the plant’s workers.”

As a result, OSHA has issued the company 38 serious citations for these hazards plus, four other-than-serious citations for incomplete and inadequate recordkeeping. OSHA issues serious citations when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from hazards about which the employer knew or should have known.
Detailed information about process safety management and formaldehyde is available online at:

http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/processsafetymanagement/index.html   and

http://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_General_Facts/formaldehyde-factsheet.pdf.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, OSHA’s role is to promote safe and healthful working conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, outreach and education. For more information, visit:

http://www.osha.gov.

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October 14, 2009

OSHA Statement re: H1N1-related Inspections

WASHINGTON - To ensure the protection of frontline healthcare and emergency medical workers at high risk of infection with H1N1 virus, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will soon issue a compliance directive to ensure uniform procedures when conducting inspections to identify and minimize or eliminate high to very high risk occupational exposures to the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus.

The Directive will closely follow the CDC’s Interim Guidance on Infection Control Measures for 2009 H1N1 Influenza in Healthcare Settings, Including Protection of Healthcare Personnel.

In response to complaints, OSHA inspectors will ensure that healthcare employers implement a hierarchy of controls, including source control, engineering, and administrative measures, encourage vaccination and other work practices recommended by the CDC. Where respirators are required to be used, the OSHA Respiratory Protection standard must be followed, including worker training and fit testing.

The CDC recommends the use of respiratory protection that is at least as protective as a fit tested disposable N95 respirator for healthcare personnel who are in close contact (within 6 feet) with patients with suspected or confirmed 2009 H1N1 influenza.

“Employers should do everything possible to protect their employees,” Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor Jordan Barab said. Barab emphasized, however, that where respirators are not commercially available, an employer will be considered to be in compliance if the employer can show that a good faith effort has been made to acquire respirators. The employer will also need to implement a hierarchy of controls such as feasible engineering controls, administrative controls, and the use, as appropriate, of personal protective equipment, such as gloves and respirators to protect workers while providing close-contact care.

Since a shortage of disposable N95 respirators is possible, employers are advised to monitor their supply, prioritize their use of disposable N95 respirators according to guidance provided by CDC, and to consider the use of elastomeric respirators and facemasks if severe shortages occur. Healthcare workers performing high hazard aerosol-generating procedures (e.g., bronchoscopy, open suctioning of airways, etc.) on a suspected or confirmed H1N1 patient must always use respirators at least as protective as a fit-tested N95, even where a respirator shortage exists. In addition, an employer must prioritize use of respirators to ensure that sufficient respirators are available for providing close-contact care for patients with aerosol-transmitted diseases such as tuberculosis.

Where OSHA inspectors determine that a facility has not violated any OSHA requirements but that additional measures could enhance the protection of employees, OSHA may provide the employer with a Hazard Alert Letter outlining suggested measures to further protect workers.

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