OSHA has cited Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for inadequate crowd management following the November 28, 2008, death of an employee at its Valley Stream, New York, store. The worker died of asphyxiation after he was knocked to the ground and trampled by a crowd of about 2,000 shoppers who surged into the store for its annual “Blitz Friday” pre-holiday sales event.
OSHA’s inspection found that the store’s employees were exposed to being crushed by the crowd due to the store’s failure to implement reasonable and effective crowd management principles. This failure includes providing employees with the necessary training and tools to safely manage the large crowd of shoppers.
“This was an unusual situation but not an unforeseen one,” said Anthony Ciuffo, OSHA’s acting area director for Long Island. “The store should have recognized, based on prior “Blitz Friday” experiences, the need to implement effective crowd management to protect its employees.”
As a result, OSHA has issued Wal-Mart one serious citation under its general duty clause for exposing workers to the recognized hazard of being crushed by the crowd. The citation carries a proposed fine of $7,000, the maximum penalty amount for a serious violation allowed under the law. 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.
“Effective planning and crowd management could have prevented this incident and its grave consequences,” said Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York. “Wal-Mart must now take steps to ensure that a situation such as this one never happens again.”
OSHA Cites JSW Steel Inc. $146,500 for Potential Safety and Health Hazards at Texas Worksite
The alleged failure to protect its employees from potential safety and health hazards has brought JSW Steel (USA) Inc. $146,500 in proposed penalties from OSHA following an inspection at the company’s facility in Baytown, Texas.
“Failure to implement OSHA’s standards and regulations to prevent potential serious hazards will not be tolerated,” said Mark Briggs, OSHA’s Houston South area director. “It is fortunate in this case that no one was injured.”
OSHA’s Houston South Area Office began its investigation November 24, 2008, at the company’s worksite in Baytown following a complaint alleging potential violations of federal safety regulations. The investigation found 29 serious violations, including failing to evaluate the worksite for confined spaces to prevent possible entrapment of employees; to ensure an authorized employee was adequately trained on the methods to control hazardous energy; and to ensure the required machine guarding.
Two repeat citations were issued for failing to conduct an annual inspection of the energy control procedures and to provide machine guarding to protect employees and operator from hazards created by metal slabs moving on roller conveyors. OSHA defines a repeat violation as one where the employer previously has been cited for the same or similar hazard within the past three years.
OSHA Cites Texas Construction Company $60,000 Fine Following Worker’s Fatal Fall
OSHA has cited Sills-Swindell Inc. $60,000 fine for two alleged willful and one repeat violation following a fatality accident at the company’s worksite in Richardson, Texas.
“This company failed to protect employees who were working on elevated platforms,” said Stephen Boyd, OSHA’s area director in Dallas. “In this case, a worker was unloading materials from a box that was being elevated on a lift truck that became unstable, causing the worker to fall 36 feet to his death.”
OSHA’s Dallas Area Office conducted its inspection on November 26, 2008, at the company’s worksite in Richardson. The investigation found two willful violations for failing to follow applicable manufacturer’s recommendations for loading equipment on a lift truck and for failure to provide fall protection to prevent employees from falling off scaffolds more than 10 feet above a lower level. A willful citation is issued for violations committed with disregard of or plain indifference to the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and regulations.
The repeat violation was for failing to provide employees with the required training to operate industrial powered equipment. A repeat violation is defined as a violation that previously was cited where, upon re-inspection, a substantially similar violation is found.
Three OSHA Standards Added to Revised Shipyard Industry Document
The standard’s fire protection subpart includes sections on implementing a fire safety plan, fire watches, and fire response. The payment for PPE section advises employers of their obligation to provide PPE for workers at no cost to them. Hexavalent chromium has been added to the list of air contaminants whose concentrations should not exceed stated exposure levels.
“The Maritime Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health recommended that OSHA update and republish the shipyard and longshoring industry digests,” said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, Jordan Barab. “The revised document is now up-to-date with current standards and will continue to serve as another resource for protecting the safety and health of shipyard workers.”
Shipyard Industry Standards revises the existing Shipyard Industry Digest and incorporates new shipyard employment requirements that have been developed and finalized since the booklet was last published in 1998. It lists the guidelines for safety and health programs in the industry and incorporates topics such as management commitment; employee participation; hazard identification, assessment and control; and program evaluation.
New Guidance Recommends Testing Well Water Annually to Reduce Health Risks
Private well water should be tested annually, and in some cases more often, according to new guidance offered by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), took a lead role in working with the AAP to develop these recommendations and draft a new AAP policy statement about the things parents should do if their children drink well water. The recommendations call for annual well testing, especially for nitrate and microorganisms such as coliform bacteria, which can indicate that sewage has contaminated the well. The recommendations point out circumstances when additional testing should occur, including testing when there is a new infant in the house or if the well is subjected to structural damage.
“Children are especially vulnerable to waterborne illnesses that may come from contaminated wells,” said Walter J. Rogan, M.D., an epidemiologist at NIEHS and lead author on the policy statement and technical report that appears in the June issue of Pediatrics. The new policy statement, “Drinking Water from Private Wells and Risks to Children,” offers recommendations for inspection, testing, and remediation of wells providing drinking water for children.
“With few exceptions, well owners are responsible for their own wells,” said Rogan. Private wells are not subject to federal regulations and are only minimally regulated by states. With proper care, well water is safe; however, wells can become contaminated by chemicals or pathogenic organisms.
Nitrate, which comes from sewage or fertilizer, is the most common contaminant in wells. The presence of nitrates can be a problem particularly for infants under three months who cannot metabolize nitrate. Water with a nitrate concentration of more than 10 milligrams per liter should not be used to prepare infant formula or given to a child younger than one year. The policy statement suggests using bottled water for infants when nitrate contamination is detected, or when the source of drinking water is not known.
The policy statement and accompanying technical report point out that water contamination is inherently local, and that families with wells need to keep in contact with state and local health experts to determine what should be tested in their community. For example, some parts of the country may have arsenic, radon, salt intrusion, or agricultural runoff that may get into the water supply.
“As people move out of urban and suburban areas into areas that are not reached by municipal water supplies, it is more important than ever that people know who to contact in their local health department to get information about local groundwater conditions,” said N. Beth Ragan of NIEHS, who served as consultant on these reports. A compilation of state by state telephone and Web-based resources of local experts is included in the technical report. Approximately one-sixth of U.S. households now get their drinking water from private wells.
NIEHS Director Linda Birnbaum, Ph.D., says she is pleased that NIEHS researchers took the lead in writing this statement, and continue their longstanding liaisons with the American Academy of Pediatrics to develop state-of-the-science technical reports that can have a direct impact on public health.
“This statement will be extremely useful to many audiences—especially pediatricians,” Birnbaum said. “Pediatricians needed a one-stop shopping document that they can share with parents who have concerns about their children’s sources of drinking water.”
California’s Department of Industrial Relations Partners with Community-based Organizations to Provide Assistance to Injured Workers
California’s Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) and the Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) have teamed up with the Watsonville-based Workers’ Compensation Enforcement Collaborative (WCEC) to overcome hurdles faced by injured workers seeking benefits when their employers are illegally uninsured. The DWC’s Information and Assistance (I&A) Unit in Salinas has been planning with WCEC members and others and is launching a “customer service initiative” pilot project designed to help these injured workers get benefits while shining a spotlight on their illegally uninsured employers.
“Bringing DIR’s divisions together in partnership with community advocates exponentially increases our effectiveness every step along the way,” said DIR Director John Duncan. “Pooling our resources allows us to better serve injured workers from the moment they walk in the door. At the same time we are helping ensure fraudulent employers face prosecution. It’s the best way to keep the playing field level.”
The focus of the Salinas “customer service initiative” pilot project is to expand existing services to unrepresented injured workers who need help identifying the parties responsible for providing them with workers’ compensation benefits, and in securing benefits from the Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust Fund (UEBTF) should the responsible parties fail to provide necessary coverage.
Under California law it is a crime for an employer to not have workers’ compensation insurance or permission to be self-insured. Illegally uninsured employers are subject to prosecution, imprisonment, and penalties.
June 1 is Tennessee’s Statewide Fall Protection Safety Stand Down for Construction Industry
Tennessee OSHA has partnered with several construction trade associations across the state to participate in the statewide Fall Protection Safety Stand Down. Participating employers have shut down their jobs on Monday morning, June 1, and trained their employees on fall protection for approximately 45-60 minutes.
Falls are a leading cause of fatalities in construction, accounting for one-third of all deaths across the industry. In 2007, there were 447 fatalities across the United States that occurred from falling. Because there is typically a rise in construction accidents during the summer months of June through August the goal of the Stand Down event is to raise awareness about the hazards of falling and to review the fall protection requirements.
“TOSHA is committed to helping employees identify fall hazards and select the necessary protection to control or eliminate the hazard,” said James Neeley, Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. “We feel this will be an event that will truly impact the safety and health of the many hard working construction workers across this state.”
Employers had to complete and submit a registration form to be a part of the Safety Stand Down. In return, they received a training program, promotion flyers, and hard hat stickers. TOSHA also agreed to provide trainers to large sites where multiple contractors are present.
The partnering construction trade associations that participated in this event included: Associated General Contractors, Associated Builders and Contractors, Tennessee Road Builders Association, American Society of Safety Engineers, Home Builders Association of Tennessee, and the Plumbing Heating Cooling Contractors Association.