A North Adams, Mass., asbestos removal contractor's failure to maintain accurate records of its workers' exposure to asbestos has resulted in a total of $50,900 in fines from OSHA.
GEM Environmental Services has been cited for alleged willful and serious violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act following an OSHA inspection begun Jan. 3, 2003, in response to an employee complaint.
OSHA's inspection identified eight instances where the company intentionally failed to accurately record or keep measurements of employees' asbestos exposure during an asbestos removal job at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield in the summer of 2002, explained Ronald E. Morin, OSHA's Western Mass. area director. He noted that inhalation of asbestos fibers by workers can lead to serious lung diseases over time.
"That's why proper exposure monitoring is so critical for workers. It's the tool by which employers can promptly spot overexposures and take swift, effective steps to reduce them," he said. "Otherwise, inaccurate monitoring leads to inadequate safeguards and increased risk to employees' health and well-being."
As a result, OSHA has cited GEM Environmental for an alleged willful violation, the most severe category of OSHA citation, and proposed a fine of $44,000. A willful violation is defined by OSHA as one committed with an intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and regulations.
An additional $6,900 in fines was proposed for six hazards classified as serious. They involve failure to monitor employees' asbestos exposure while cleaning equipment at GEM's headquarters; failure to calibrate air sampling pumps; missing or incomplete records of respirator use, pump calibration and duration times; and a defective power cord.
GEM Environmental has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to either elect to comply with them, to request and participate in an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or to contest them before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
NIOSH LEADS EVALUATION OF STRATEGIC MACHINE SAFETY GUIDELINE
About 155 people die every year from being caught in, crushed by, or otherwise fatally injured from hazardous contact on the job with heavy industrial machinery. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is leading a project with diverse business, labor, and insurance industry partners to evaluate the effectiveness of an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) voluntary guideline to prevent such injuries.
The ANSI guideline, ANSI B11 TR3, describes a strategic process for employers to use in assessing the risk of such injuries in their workplaces. By performing such an assessment, companies can determine where best to focus efforts to reduce those risks. The ANSI guideline tailors the concepts of an international voluntary standard, ISO 14121, to the U.S. workplace. The new procedure is expected to be particularly effective for reducing risks during machine maintenance tasks.
The NIOSH-led study will compare operations involving two similar machines within several companies. In one setting, the ANSI TR3 process will be adopted. The matched operation will continue to follow traditional safety practices. Where the ANSI TR3 process is implemented, existing safety controls, machine guards, and other safety devices, practices, and programs are assessed beforehand.
Results of the study will help employers assess the effectiveness of the ANSI guideline in practice, and will help them decide whether to invest in new procedures with assurance that the changes are likely to improve safety in their workplaces.
As a first step, NIOSH held a training workshop on October 30-November 1, 2002, with a variety of companies that are participating in the study. The workshop helped participants understand the TR3 process and computer software that was provided, and helped them practice using the software.
Next, NIOSH will work with participants to apply the ANSI TR3 process to one of their machines. One year later, safety data and conditions again will be assessed for the machine to which the TR3 process was applied, and for the comparison machine where traditional practices continued to be followed. NIOSH will publish the results and make them widely available to employers, employees, safety professionals, and other partners.
The point of contact for technical questions about the project is John R. Etherton, Ph.D., NIOSH Division of Safety Research, tel. (304) 285-5985.
MSHA MOVES ON NEW RULES TO PREVENT BLACK LUNG
The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) will re-propose standards to require verification of coal mine operator dust control plans and will re-open its rulemaking record on the method used to determine respirable coal mine dust concentrations.
MSHA is proposing to assume responsibility for all underground compliance dust sampling. Under current rules, mine operators take most of the samples required to determine compliance with the federal standards designed to prevent black lung.
While eliminating the requirement for compliance sampling by underground coal mine operators, the proposal calls for mine operators to collect samples to verify the adequacy of dust control measures specified in their mine ventilation plans. The new proposed rule reflects public comments on an earlier version of the proposal.
At the same time the record is being reopened on a previous proposal to revise the way MSHA determines compliance with respirable coal mine dust standards. MSHA and the Department of Health and Human Services jointly developed a proposed rule stating that the average concentration of respirable dust to which an individual working miner is exposed can be accurately measured over a single shift. The proposed rule would update a 32-year-old "finding" that called for averaging samples taken over multiple shifts.
MSHA is asking for comments and expects to hold public hearings on both issues.
WORKER'S INJURY BRINGS OSHA PENALTIES OF $182,500
A Greensboro, N.C., company's alleged failure to protect employees with adequate fall protection equipment at its Killeen, Texas, worksite has resulted in proposed penalties of $182,500 from OSHA.
Oakwood Homes Corp., headquartered in Greensboro, N.C., was cited on Feb. 21 with two alleged willful, 16 alleged serious and six alleged other-than-serious safety violations following an OSHA inspection that began Sept. 13, 2002. The inspection resulted from a complaint when a worker was injured at the company's Killeen worksite.
The company, which manufactures mobile homes, employs about 9,000 workers nationwide. In November, as part of a Chapter 11 restructuring, Oakwood Homes closed its plants and wholesale locations throughout Texas, including the Killeen plant, which employed about 280 workers.
The two alleged willful violations were cited for failing to provide fall protection equipment on open-sided platforms and roofs in accordance with OSHA standards. Oakwood Homes Corp. had several citations notifying them of requirements for guardrail systems in their other plants around the nation. A willful violation is defined as an intentional disregard of or plain indifference to the requirements of the OSHA Act and regulations.
The 16 alleged serious violations were issued for failing to follow lock out/tag out procedures (improper control of hazardous energy) and failing to provide protection against electrical hazards. A serious violation is one that could cause death or serious physical harm to employees and the employer knew or should have known of the hazard.
The six alleged other-than-serious violations were issued for the improper storage of materials, which could create tripping hazards, and blocking the access to an exit. An other-than-serious violation is a hazardous condition that would probably not cause death or serious physical harm, but would have a direct and immediate relationship to the safety and or health of the employees.
Oakwood Homes has 15 working days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with the Austin area office, or to contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
SAFETY AND HEALTH FORUM FOR SMALL BUSINESSES IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS ON MARCH 26
Small businesses in northern Illinois can get help with important safety issues this month at a special forum at Sauk Valley Community College in Dixon, Ill. on Wednesday, March 26.
Co-sponsored by the state of Illinois and OSHA, the forum will feature safety and health professionals from both the private sector and government. It will cover machine guarding, fire safety, accident investigation, recordkeeping rules and other safety topics.
Machine guarding and related machinery violations consistently rank among the top 10 of safety violations. Every year, workers who operate and maintain machinery suffer approximately 18,000 amputations, lacerations, crushing injuries, and abrasions, and more than 800 deaths.
Employers who attend the forum will also learn how some companies have created and implemented successful ergonomics programs to prevent repetitive stress injuries.
The program will be held from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Sauk Valley Community College, 173 IL Route 2, in Dixon, Ill.
The fee for the forum is $30, which includes lunch and refreshments. Advance registration is required.
A registration form may be obtained by calling Sauk Valley Community College's Office of Corporate and Community Services at 815-288-5511, ext. 302.