” The report recommends improved oversight and additional controls to ensure participating companies maintain effective workplace safety and health management systems. OSHA will also conduct a comprehensive evaluation of its VPP and Alliance Program to determine how the agency should best allocate its resources among cooperative programs, enforcement and other agency activities.
Monitoring Requirements for Airborne Lead to be Reconsidered
To ensure the most vulnerable Americans are adequately protected from exposure to lead from the air, EPA will reconsider some of its lead air pollution monitoring requirements, Administrator Lisa P. Jackson has announced.
“We have a fundamental responsibility to protect every child from environmental threats, especially contaminants like lead that can cause behavioral and learning disabilities and create a lifetime of challenges,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “We’re putting in place rigorous standards to prevent contamination. To make them fully effective, we need close interaction and monitoring in the communities where harmful levels of airborne lead are most likely to be found.”
Air quality monitoring measures concentrations of a pollutant in the outdoor air. EPA revised its air quality monitoring requirements for lead in 2008, at the same time the agency tightened the national air quality standards for lead for the first time in 30 years. The current rule requires air quality monitoring in areas where any industry emits at least one ton of lead to the air each year, and in the 101 urban areas with populations of 500,000 or more.
As part of this action, EPA will consider whether additional monitoring near industrial sources of lead is warranted. The agency also will reconsider the monitoring requirements for urban areas as part of its review. EPA is not reconsidering the lead standards.
Lead that is emitted into the air can be inhaled or can be ingested after it settles out of the air. Ingestion is the main route of human exposure. Children are the most susceptible because they are more likely to ingest lead and their bodies are developing rapidly. Exposures to low levels of lead early in life have been linked to damage to IQ, learning, memory, and behavior. There is no known safe level of lead in the body.
The reconsideration will not delay implementation of the 2008 lead standards. EPA will issue a proposal and take public comment before deciding whether to revise the lead monitoring requirements. The agency anticipates issuing a proposal for public review and comment later this summer, and a final rule in early spring 2010.
Oil Refineries Urged to Comply with Process Safety Management Standard
Oil refineries nationwide received letters from OSHA providing them with data on compliance issues found under the Refinery National Emphasis Program and urging the refiners to comply with their obligations under the process safety management standard
Asbestos-contaminated Vermiculite Insulation Poses Health Hazard
The EPA is warning the public and electricians, plumbers, and other contractors who perform work in attics about the potential risks of asbestos exposure from contaminated vermiculite insulation. Vermiculite from a Libby, Montana, mine containing asbestos was sold from 1919 to 1990 and used in the majority of vermiculite insulation in the United States.
OSHA Publishes New Guidance Document Explaining Exposure Monitoring Requirements for Ethylene Oxide
The guidance document helps employers understand the ethylene oxide (EtO) standard and explains how to monitor the air quality in workplaces where EtO is processed, used, or handled.
The document includes clarification of the various types of EtO exposure monitoring, lists and explains the exposure levels used by OSHA, and provides an outline of what employers should do when monitoring shows EtO exposure levels exceed the allowable limits.
“Because ethylene oxide cannot be detected by sight or smell, workers can be exposed to dangerous levels and not realize it,” said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab. “Understanding OSHA’s EtO standard is vital to ensuring that employers know how to measure exposure levels so that workers are not exposed to potentially serious illnesses.”
The odorless, colorless EtO gas is widely used in hospitals to sterilize surgical equipment. Among other common products, EtO also is found in antifreeze, detergents, adhesives, and spices. Short-term exposure to EtO can cause difficulty breathing and nausea, among other symptoms. Long-term exposure can cause more severe conditions such as damage to the nervous system and cancer.
New CDC Resource Helps Combat Obesity
LEAN stands for Leading Employees to Activity and Nutrition.
The CDC says it developed the website because a growing number of organizations had been asking the agency about how to help employees maintain a healthy weight. The site provides a variety of resources to employers, including:
- An obesity cost calculator where employers can input employee demographic data to estimate the total costs associated with obesity and determine annual obesity-related medical costs for their companies.
- Information and resources to help employers plan, build, promote, and assess interventions to combat obesity.
- Information on how employers can estimate return on investment, a measure of the cost of an intervention compared to the expected financial return of the investment.
- The CDC visited select businesses to identify promising worksite obesity prevention and control practices. The LEANWorks! website provides case studies from some of those businesses.
Workplace obesity prevention programs can be an effective way for employers to reduce obesity and lower health care costs, according to the CDC. Employers may also see other indirect benefits when they implement these programs such as improved employee morale, increased worker retention, and improved recruitment of new employees.
OSHA Proposes $136,000 Against Water and Sewer Contractor for Safety Violations at Georgia Trench Site
OSHA has proposed seven citations with penalties totaling $136,000 against Tritt Contracting Inc. for violating federal workplace safety standards. The penalties follow an inspection of a construction site in Powder Springs, Georgia, where OSHA found company employees working in dangerous conditions inside a 23-foot-deep trench.
OSHA alleges two willful violations with penalties totaling $100,000 for allowing employees to work in a trench without a safe means of escape and without an adequate worker protective system to prevent cave-ins. The agency defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health.
The agency also has proposed a repeat violation with a $20,000 penalty for the company’s failure to adequately train employees to recognize and avoid hazardous conditions, and for inadequately training employees to direct traffic around the worksite. The company was cited for violating the same standard in 2007.
Four serious violations with penalties totaling $16,000 have been issued for the company’s failure to place warning signage to oncoming motorists of work being conducted in the roadway, not providing the employee directing traffic with proper traffic control equipment, allowing equipment to be placed within two feet of the trench, and using a protective system inside the trench that was not designed by a professional engineer.
“OSHA will not allow employers to endanger their workers’ lies by cutting corners on safety just to speed up work and minimize any inconvenience to residents and motorists,” said Andre Richards, area director of OSHA’s Atlanta-West office.
The company, based in Jasper, Georgia, has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to contest the violations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The site was inspected by staff from OSHA’s Atlanta-West Area Office.
Painting and Decorating Inc., Cited for Fall Hazards Leading to Over $120,000 in OSHA Fines
A Ronkonkoma, New York, masonry contractor with a history of worksite safety violations has been cited by OSHA due to safety violations at a Forest Hills, New York, worksite. Painting and Decorating Inc., has been cited for five alleged repeat violations of safety standards and faces a total of $120,750 in new fines.
The inspection began January 23 when an OSHA inspector, driving by the worksite, observed employees performing stucco work on a 13-foot high scaffold without guardrails or a fall protection system. The inspector also found that Painting and Decorating Inc. had not: fully-planked the scaffold, provided a ladder for workers to access the scaffold, refrained from using makeshift devices to increase the scaffold’s height, or provided the workers with protective helmets.
“One means of maintaining safe working conditions is to establish and implement a safety and health management system through which employees and management continually evaluate, identify and eliminate work hazards,” said Mendelson.
Painting and Decorating Inc. has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet with the OSHA area director or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The inspection was conducted by OSHA’s Queens District Office.
OSHA Proposes More than $109,000 in Fines Against New York Manufacturer for Recurring Hazards
OSHA has cited Multina USA Inc. of Plattsburgh, New York, for seven alleged repeat and serious violations of safety and health standards, and for failing to correct a previously cited violation at its Idaho Avenue manufacturing plant. The maker of composite train seats faces a total of $109,400 in proposed fines.
OSHA opened a follow-up inspection at the plant in January 2009 to verify correction of conditions cited during a 2008 OSHA inspection. OSHA found the recurrence of several types of hazards, including the improper storage, transfer and handling of flammable liquids, and the company’s failure to provide workers with chemical resistant protective gloves and hazard communications training. As a result, OSHA has issued the company five repeat citations with $75,000 in proposed fines.
OSHA also has issued Multina USA Inc. one failure to abate notice with a $30,000 fine for not informing workers of their right to access their medical records, a violation the company did not correct after the previous OSHA inspection.
Finally, OSHA has issued the company two serious citations, with $4,400 in fines, for new hazards involving lack of machine guarding on a router and excess air pressure for a compressed air hose. 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.
“Failure to effectively address these conditions leaves anyone working in this location exposed to potentially fatal burns and amputation hazards,” said Edward Jerome, OSHA’s area director in Albany. “One means by which employers can prevent serious workplace hazards is through an effective safety and health management system in which they work with their employees to actively identify, analyze and eliminate hazardous conditions.”
Multina USA Inc. has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet with OSHA’s area director, or contest the citations before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The inspections were conducted by OSHA’s Albany Area Office.
OSHA Proposes More than $100,000 in Fines Against Steam Plant Following Fire that Injured Worker
OSHA has cited Concord Steam Corp. for 73 alleged willful, serious, and other than serious violations of safety standards after a worker at its Pleasant Street steam generating plant in Concord, New Hampshire, was burned in a January 22 fire that occurred when pressurized oil ignited after leaking from a boiler. Concord Steam faces a total of $104,200 in proposed fines.
OSHA’s inspection found that the boiler’s doors were bulging and cracked and not properly secured against the escape of embers and fire. This situation posed a fire and explosion hazard in that escaping embers and flames could ignite combustible materials in the plant and did later ignite a smoldering fire in a pile of accumulated wood dust. OSHA also identified a variety of chemical, electrical, mechanical, asbestos, and other fire-related hazards in the plant.
“The conditions found in this plant expose its employees to the risks of fire, explosion, lacerations, crushing injuries, falls, hazardous chemicals, electrocution, suffocation, lung disease and being unable to promptly exit the plant in a fire or other emergency,” said Rosemarie Ohar, OSHA’s area director in Concord. “They must be fully and effectively corrected for the safety and health of the workers.”
Cited conditions include obstructed or unmarked exit access; lack of an alarm system or emergency action plan; inadequately trained and equipped fire brigade; uninspected fire extinguishers; fall hazards; lack of personal protective equipment; deficiencies in the plant’s confined space, respirator and lockout/tagout of accidental energization start-up programs; untrained fork truck operators; inadequate chemical hazard communication; numerous instances of unguarded machinery and various electrical hazards; accumulations of asbestos containing or potentially asbestos containing waste and debris; and failure to survey the work area for asbestos, inform employees of its presence, provide asbestos awareness training, and properly clean up asbestos.
OSHA has issued Concord Steam one willful citation, with a $22,000 fine for the asbestos accumulation and 65 serious citations with $79,800 in fines, for the remaining items. The company also has been issued seven other than serious citations, with $2,400 in fines, chiefly for inadequate or incomplete injury and illness recording.
Concord Steam has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, participate in an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or contest them before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The inspection was conducted by OSHA’s Concord Area Office.
OSHA Cites PSEG Power LLC for Workplace Safety and Health Hazards
OSHA has cited PSEG Power LLC for alleged workplace safety and health violations found at a Hamilton, New Jersey, worksite and has proposed $57,500 in penalties. OSHA initiated its investigation on January 21 after being notified of an employee accident. As a result of the investigation, the company has been cited with one willful violation with a penalty of $55,000 and one serious violation with a $2,500 penalty.
The willful violation is due to the company’s failure to provide adequate lighting when employees were operating a bulldozer at night.
The serious violation is due to the company’s failure to ensure that employees were wearing a seat belt when operating a bulldozer.
“PSEG is strongly encouraged to address the identified violations to ensure its workers are not at risk for future accidents,” said Paula Dixon-Roderick, director of OSHA’s Marlton, New Jersey, office. “By implementing an effective safety and health management system, the company can protect its workers from workplace hazards.”
The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The investigation was conducted by OSHA’s Marlton Area Office.
Judge Rejects Industry Legal Filings in Toxics Right-To-Know Case
A New York State Supreme Court judge rejected legal briefs filed by household cleaning giants Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, Church and Dwight, and Reckitt-Benckiser in a right-to-know case filed by environmental and public health advocates.
Oral arguments in the case were scheduled to begin today. But during a pre-hearing conference, Justice Richard Braun stated that lawyers for industry had violated court procedure, filing a motion-to-dismiss brief that exceeded the maximum page limit. Justice Braun tossed the brief and rescheduled oral arguments in the case for October 15.
The manufacturing giants are refusing to follow a New York state law requiring them to disclose the chemical ingredients in their products and the health risks they pose. Independent studies show a link between many chemicals commonly found in cleaning products and health effects ranging from nerve damage to hormone disruption. With mounting concern about the potential hazards of chemicals in these products, advocates are defending consumers’ right to know and asking companies to follow the law.
Ingredient disclosure requirements are virtually non-existent in the United States. The exception is a long-forgotten New York state law which requires household and commercial cleaner companies selling their products in New York to file semi-annual reports with the state listing the chemicals contained in their products and describing any company research on these chemicals’ health and environmental effects.
On the domestic front, advocates are awaiting Congressional re-introduction of the Kid Safe Chemical Act which would force the chemical industry to prove the safety of a chemical before approving it for use in products. And internationally, companies are preparing to comply with similar European regulations (known as REACH) already taking effect.
The nonprofit public interest law firm Earthjustice brought the court case on behalf of a coalition of state and national groups, including Women’s Voices for the Earth, Clean New York, Environmental Advocates of New York, New York Public Interest Research Group, Riverkeeper, Sierra Club, and American Lung Association in New York.
CSB Deploys to Fire at CITGO Refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas
A four-member investigative team from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board () has been dispatched to the site of a fire that began Sunday morning, July 19, in the hydrogen fluoride (HF) alkylation unit at the CITGO refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas.
One worker was airlifted to a burn center in San Antonio as a result of the accident at the 163,000 barrel per day refinery. The alkylation unit was reported to be shut down.
The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents. The agency’s board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. CSB investigations look into all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in regulations, industry standards, and safety management systems.
The Board does not issue citations or fines but does make safety recommendations to plants, industry organizations, labor groups, and regulatory agencies such as OSHA and EPA.
TWB Company, LLC, Monroe plant Receives State Award for Outstanding Safety & Health Record
The TWB Company, LLC, Monroe plant received the CET Bronze Award today for an outstanding safety and health record from the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA). The MIOSHA program is part of the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth (DELEG).
“We are honored to present this award to the employees and management of TWB Company’s Monroe Plant for their dedication to workplace safety and health,” said Susan R. Corbin, DELEG Deputy Director & Chief of Staff. “This award recognizes their outstanding efforts to protect their workers, while still meeting the challenge facing businesses today of being economically competitive.”
MIOSHA Director Doug Kalinowski presented the award to the TWB Safety Committee. Invited guests, management and TWB’s day-shift employees attended the award presentation.
“I am extremely proud of all of the TWB Company employees who have made our company as safe as it is today,” Roger Swanson, TWB Safety and Training Coordinator. “We went 352 days without a recordable injury in 2007-2008 and that is phenomenal for our work tasks.”
The MIOSHA Consultation Education and Training (CET) Division recognizes the safety and health achievements of Michigan employers and employees through CET Awards, which are based on excellent safety and health performance. The CET Bronze Award recognizes leadership and commitment to workplace safety and health resulting in significant improvement of their MIOSHA record.
The company has completed the following criteria to receive the Bronze Award:
- Developed and implemented a comprehensive safety and health management system;
- Established a safety and health committee, with both employee and management participation;
- Developed an employee training system, with an emphasis on how to do the work in a safe and healthful manner; and
- Worked diligently to change their workplace culture to reflect the importance of worker safety.
The facility has worked with the MIOSHA CET Division over several years and they participated in MIOSHA’s “Take a Stand Day” in 2007 and 2008. They have an active safety committee and members are empowered to not only help identify hazards, but also find solutions to ensure a safe and healthy work environment.
CET Senior Safety Consultant Jennifer Clark-Denson, MBA, conducted a hazard survey at the plant, which allowed them the opportunity to walk through the facility with a MIOSHA representative and correct any problem areas that were noted.
“Companies that establish an integrated safety and health program reap the benefits of significantly reducing their injury and illness rates,” said Kalinowski. “Reducing these rates not only protects employees-it has a healthy impact on a company’s bottom line.”
TWB Company, LLC, was formed in 1992 as a joint venture between Thyssen Stahl AG and Worthington Industries. Thyssen developed the laser welding of automotive body panels in the early 1980s and Worthington is a leading steel processor in North America. Based in Monroe, TWB currently has five North American facilities.
TWB has largely developed the tailor welded blank market in North America since its inception and is currently the leading manufacturer of tailor welded products in North America. Tailor welded blanks have evolved from same gauge steel sheets welded together to different thickness and/or strengths that are joined together to consolidate stampings and achieve cost effective weight reduction. There are over 20 common automotive body parts that are laser welded today. The tailor welded blank is the link between high safety requirements and affordable weight reduction.
Tailored products allow the designer and engineer to consolidate steel parts into a single stamping with various material combinations throughout the blank, tube or coil. TWB has grown over the years with products that meet or exceed the demands of the automotive industry. Their product lines include, tailored welded blanks, engineered blanks (curvilinear or 2D), tailor welded orbitals (tubes), tailor welded coils, patchwork blanks and FlexStep weld seam off-set capability.
Family Owned Boot Making Company Recognized for Safety Achievement
Oregon OSHA will welcome West Coast Shoe Company (Wesco) this month as the newest employer in the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP).
SHARP provides an incentive for Oregon employers to work with their employees to find and correct hazards, develop and implement effective safety and health programs, and continuously improve. The ultimate goal of SHARP is to encourage employers to become self-sufficient in managing workplace safety and health issues. Currently, 71 employer locations in Oregon participate in SHARP, in addition to 84 facilities that have graduated from the program.
Employing 32 workers, Wesco is a 91-year-old family-owned and operated boot maker. The company manufactures a full line of boots from its factory in Scappoose. Wesco boots are handcrafted from American-made materials and are created for everyday wear and a wide variety of occupational uses.
“Wesco has had a safety committee since the ‘60s but going through the rigors of the SHARP program allowed us to fine-tune our safety procedures,” said Roberta Shoemaker, president and CEO of Wesco. “We view SHARP as a high-level measuring stick to use as a means of elevating our safety commitment.”
Participation in SHARP doesn’t eliminate regulatory enforcement, although SHARP participants do receive a limited exemption from programmed inspections. Employees retain all workplace safety and health rights contained in the Oregon Safe Employment Act. Oregon employers that have been in business for more than one year are eligible to apply for SHARP regardless of size or type of business.