Yes, employers must pay for the time it takes for their employees to put on and take off personal protective equipment (PPE). The U.S. Department of Labor has announced that Tyson Foods Inc., has agreed to a nationwide injunction requiring the company to pay its poultry processing workers for all hours that they work. In addition, Tyson Foods has agreed to pay almost 3,000 workers at its Blountsville, Alabama, facility $500,000 in overtime back wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
“No employee should be made to work without compensation,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor, Hilda L. Solis. “I am pleased that, as result of this agreement, poultry processing employees at Tyson Foods plants will receive the full wages that they rightfully earn and deserve.”
According to the Department of Labor, the agreement is a critical step in the department’s longstanding efforts to require that employers in the meat and poultry industries pay employees for all hours worked. Following the department’s consent judgment with Pilgrim’s Pride in January 2010, the judgment against Tyson Foods will mean that the nation’s two largest poultry processors now are subject to judicially-enforceable requirements that they pay these employees in compliance with the FLSA.
The agreement ensures that, for the first time, Tyson poultry processing workers will be paid for all the time they spend at the plant putting on and taking off protective and sanitary items, a process known as donning and doffing, as well as for the time they spend washing and sanitizing themselves and the items. The workers also must be compensated for all time they spend walking and waiting that occurs during the workday. Tyson Foods must keep accurate records of this time.
The Labor Department’s district court complaint was filed in May 2002, following an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division at the company’s Blountsville plant. As part of the consent judgment resolving the case, workers at the Blountsville plant will receive $500,000 in overtime back wages for work they performed dating back to 2000. While the complaint’s back wage claim was limited to violations at Blountsville, the department obtained an injunction that will govern the pay practices for poultry processing employees at all of the company’s union and non-union plants.
The agreement will become fully effective at the company’s non-union plants no later than December 1, 2012. In the interim, the company has agreed to pay workers at its non-union plants for additional minutes of non-production time daily, in addition to each worker’s production time. At union plants, the agreement will become fully effective by December 1, 2012, at the request of the applicable unions. Tyson is required by the terms of the agreement immediately to provide a copy of the consent judgment to all applicable unions.
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MSHA Launches Annual Safety Initiative Aimed at Roof Fall Prevention
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has launched its annual roof fall prevention awareness program aimed at reducing the high number of roof falls that occur in the nation’s underground coal mines. Statistics show that more accidents and injuries from roof falls occur during the summer months than at any other time of year. As temperatures rise, humidity and moisture increase underground, making it easier for a mine roof or rib to fall.
“Underground roof falls continue to be a leading cause of coal mining fatalities,” said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. “Miners and mine operators are urged to pay attention to roof conditions—not just in summer, but throughout the year.”
Since 2000, there have been 69 coal mining fatalities attributed to “fall of roof or back and fall of face/rib/pillar/side/highwall.” During the agency’s Preventive Roof/Rib Outreach Program, also known as PROP, which runs through September, MSHA personnel will advise operators to examine roofs that have weathered due to humid air, communicate immediately with miners when they observe adverse roof conditions, install supplemental support when conditions warrant, scale loose roof in the face area where miners work, and consistently follow the approved roof control plan for their mines.
For this year’s campaign, federal mine inspectors began distributing educational information including posters and hardhat stickers to remind the coal industry about potential hazards and suggested remedies. MSHA officials will speak directly to miners about the problems warmer weather causes for underground mines and present them with pertinent statistics about the increase in accidents during the warmer weather months.
Seafood Plant Fined $214,500 for Process Safety Hazards
OSHA has proposed a total of $214,500 in fines against High Liner Foods Inc., for 17 alleged violations of workplace health and safety standards at the company’s Portsmouth, New Hampshire, seafood processing plant. The company is mainly cited for a failure to address deficiencies in its anhydrous ammonia piping system used for freezing.
OSHA’s inspection found that the company did not properly inspect and test the piping system, which was corroded and encased in ice in many locations. Also, it did not correct previously identified deficiencies in the system. For these conditions, OSHA has issued the company two willful citations, carrying $140,000 in proposed fines. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for worker safety and health.
“Failing to inspect and test the ammonia piping system and take corrective action exposes workers to the possibility of an ammonia leak or similar severe or catastrophic incident,” said Rosemarie Ohar, OSHA’s area director for New Hampshire. “For the health and safety of their workers, employers must proactively assess and address hazards associated with processes and equipment that use large amounts of ammonia or other hazardous chemicals.”
OSHA also determined that the plant failed to label and identify piping systems, remove frost and ice accumulations from piping, properly locate relief valves, ensure that the main ammonia shutoff valve was accessible, ensure that an exit door opened to the outside, conduct compliance audits, inspect and test the mechanical integrity of process equipment, provide workers with hand protection and make process safety information available. These conditions resulted in nine serious citations, with $44,500 in fines. 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.
High Liner Foods also has been issued one repeat citation and a $25,000 fine for not properly calibrating equipment used to inspect and test compressors and cryolators. This citation follows an identical hazard cited by OSHA at the company’s Danvers, Massachusetts, plant in 2009. Finally, five other-than-serious citations with $5,000 in fines have been issued for incomplete or inadequate recording of occupational illnesses and injuries.
OSHA Proposes $88,500 Fine against Infineum for Process Safety Management Violations
OSHA has cited Infineum USA L.P., for 22 workplace safety violations, including exposing employees to chemical hazards, at the company’s Linden, New Jersey facility. Proposed penalties total $88,500.
OSHA initiated its inspection on November 24, 2009, in response to a complaint related to a chlorine release at the facility. As a result of the inspection, the company has received citations for violations related to a deficient process safety management system. Among the hazards observed by OSHA inspectors was the company’s failure to establish and implement written procedures required to manage any changes to technology, facilities, equipment, and procedures that can potentially impact a chemical process.
“Chlorine is a highly hazardous chemical that can have a severe impact on employees’ safety and health,” said Patricia Jones, director of OSHA’s Avenel Area Office. “All aspects of the OSHA process safety management standard must be followed by employers in order to ensure that workers go home safe at the end of the day.”
The PSM is intended to prevent or minimize the consequences of a catastrophic release of toxic, reactive, flammable or explosive chemicals from a process. A process is any activity or combination of activities including any use, storage, manufacturing, handling, or the on-site movement of highly hazardous chemicals.
Infineum USA L.P., is a manufacturer of petroleum additives with 262 employees at this site.
OSHA Proposes More than $125,000 in Fines against Contractor after Partial Building Collapse
OSHA cited New York Plank Services LLC, a precast concrete installation contractor, for alleged willful, serious and other-than-serious violations of safety standards following a partial building collapse in Brooklyn. The company faces a total of $125,800 in proposed fines.
On November 23, 2009, during the installation of pre-cast concrete stairs on the third floor of a six-story residential building under construction at 433 3rd Ave., a collapse of several planks and stairs occurred. OSHA’s inspection found that the structural steel I-beam that supported the planks and stairs had not been bolted and welded as required to provide stability, and the employees who removed the damaged concrete planks from the stairwell were exposed to falls of 40 feet to the ground due to a lack of fall protection. As a result, OSHA has issued two willful citations, with $112,000 in proposed fines, against New York Plank Services.
“While it is fortunate that no workers were injured in this incident, they were still exposed to crushing hazards during the event and to fall hazards afterward,” said Kay Gee, OSHA’s area director for Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. “These sizable fines reflect the gravity of the hazards and the employer’s knowledge that these vital and required safeguards were ignored.”
In addition, workers had not been trained to recognize fall hazards and in the correct use of fall protection equipment, defective rigging equipment had not been removed from service, and the jobsite lacked a program for frequent and regular inspections to identify hazards. These conditions resulted in three serious citations with $9,000 in fines.
Finally, the company has been issued eight other-than-serious citations, with $4,800 in fines for incomplete or inadequate recording of occupational illness and injuries.
“One means of preventing hazards and enhancing workplace safety is for employers to establish effective, comprehensive workplace safety and health programs that involve their employees in proactively evaluating, identifying and eliminating hazards before they occur,” said Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York.
OSHA Seeks Members to Serve on National Advisory Committee for Improving Worker Safety and Health
NACOSH is a continuing advisory committee established under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 that has advised the Secretaries of Labor, and Health and Human Services for nearly 40 years on occupational safety and health issues such as site-specific targeting, whistleblower protection, and continuing outreach to Latino workers.
OSHA is seeking nominees who possess occupational safety and health expertise and are qualified to represent workers, employers, the public, and safety and health professionals. Nominees will fill two public, one management, one occupational safety and one occupational health representative vacancies. The Secretary of Labor appoints the committee’s 12 members, two of whom are designated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Committee members serve two year terms and meet at least twice a year.
If submitting nominations by mail, send three copies to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. OSHA-2010-0012, U.S. Department of Labor, N-2625, 200 Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20210. Nominations not exceeding 10 pages may be faxed to 202-693-1648. The nominations deadline is July 20, 2010.
Glasses Containing Cadmium Recalled
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with McDonalds has announced a voluntary recall of about 12 million Shrek Forever After™ Collectable Drinking Glasses.
Designs on the glasses, which were manufactured in the U.S. by ARC International, of Millville, New Jersey, contain unacceptable levels of cadmium. McDonalds is asking consumers to immediately stop using the glass out of an abundance of caution.
According to Washington state environmental officials, news of the recall is yet another example of the failure of our current federal policies related to toxic chemicals in products.
Washington has been working with a coalition of other states to urge federal reform of the nation’s law regulating chemicals in commerce—the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA).
“The approach of ‘Oops, we contaminated children again, let’s do a recall’ isn’t good enough,” said Ted Sturdevant, director of the Washington Department of Ecology. “We need to know that products are safe before they are in widespread use—throughout the nation.”
Washington is working to protect children by carrying out the Children’s Safe Product Act. The act will require makers of children’s products to report to Ecology on products that contain chemicals of concern to children.
“The public has a right to expect that the products they use are safe,” Sturdevant said. “And where children are concerned, extra diligence should be used.”
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