Lessard Roofing & Siding, Inc., and Lessard Brothers Construction, Inc., both located in Greene, Maine, were cited by OSHA for safety violations 11 times at 11 different work sites in Maine between 2000 and 2011. Since that time, owner Stephen Lessard has refused to correct the cited violations and pay $405,000 in fines and interest, even after the Labor Department obtained an order in US District Court for the District of Maine in December 2011. The Labor Department asked the US Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit in Boston in February 2015 to hold Stephen Lessard in civil contempt for defying the 2011 order.
The judgment orders Lessard to submit proof of correction for the cited hazards and pay $405,485 plus interest and fees to OSHA within 20 days. Failure to do so will result in additional sanctions by the court of that could include imprisonment.
“It’s critically important that employers recognize their obligation to take all appropriate steps to ensure the safety and health of their workers. The refusal to do so places their employees’ lives and well-being at risk and the employers themselves in legal jeopardy,” said Kim Stille, OSHA’s New England regional administrator.
“Mr. Lessard repeatedly flouted that obligation and violated standing court orders; the Labor Department responded by seeking, and obtaining, a contempt finding by the court of appeals that requires him to pay the fines he owes and comply with his safety and health responsibilities. If he fails to take this finding seriously, the court has made clear he could find himself in jail until he does,” said Michael Felsen, New England Regional Solicitor of Labor.
How to Implement OSHA’s Globally Harmonized Hazard Communication Standard (GHS)
OSHA has issued a final rule revising its Hazard Communication Standard, aligning it with the United Nations’ globally harmonized system (GHS) for the classification and labeling of hazardous chemicals. This means that virtually every product label, safety data sheet (formerly called “material safety data sheet” or MSDS), and written hazard communication plan must be revised to meet the new standard. Worker training must be updated so that workers can recognize and understand the symbols and pictograms on the new labels as well as the new hazard statements and precautions on safety data sheets.
New Exclusions for Solvent Recycling and Hazardous Secondary Materials
EPA’s new final rule on the definition of solid waste creates new opportunities for waste recycling outside the scope of the full hazardous waste regulations. This rule, which went into effect on July 13, 2015, streamlines the regulatory burden for wastes that are legitimately recycled.
The first of the two exclusions is an exclusion from the definition of solid waste for high-value solvents transferred from one manufacturer to another for the purpose of extending the useful life of the original solvent by keeping the materials in commerce to reproduce a commercial grade of the original solvent product.
The second, and more wide reaching of the two exclusions, is a revision of the existing hazardous secondary material recycling exclusion. This exclusion allows you to recycle, or send off-site for recycling, virtually any hazardous secondary material. Provided you meet the terms of the exclusion, the material will no longer be hazardous waste.
Learn how to take advantage of these exclusions at Environmental Resource Center’s live webcast where you will learn:
- Which of your materials qualify under the new exclusions
- What qualifies as a hazardous secondary material
- Which solvents can be remanufactured, and which cannot
- What is a tolling agreement
- What is legitimate recycling
- Generator storage requirements
- What documentation you must maintain
- Requirements for off-site shipments
- Training and emergency planning requirements
- If it is acceptable for the recycler to be outside the US
Nashville RCRA and DOT Training
Pittsburgh RCRA and DOT Training
Columbus RCRA and DOT Training
New Safety Fine Map
OSHA’s new webpage identifies high penalty cases in all US states and territories—whether they operate under federal OSHA or an OSHA-approved state plan. Click on a state, and the map will list all enforcement cases with initial penalties of $40,000 or more, beginning on January 1, 2015.
N95 Day to Promote Proper Use of Respiratory Protection
The agency urges employers with N95s as part of their workplace respiratory protection programs to familiarize themselves with NIOSH’s resources on respiratory protection.
CDC Provides Ebola PPE Guidance Clarifications to Assist US Healthcare Personnel
. Specifications are provided in the guidance to assist facilities in selecting and ordering the recommended garments.
Low-Level Arsenic Exposure Before Birth Associated With Early Puberty and Obesity in Female Mice
Female mice exposed in utero, or in the womb, to low levels of arsenic through drinking water displayed signs of early puberty and became obese as adults, according to scientists from the National Institutes of Health. The finding is significant because the exposure level of 10 parts per billion used in the study is the current EPA standard, or maximum allowable amount, for arsenic in drinking water. The study, which appeared online August 21 in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, serves as a good starting point for examining whether low-dose arsenic exposure could have similar health outcomes in humans.
Scientists from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of NIH, divided pregnant mice into three groups. The control group received no arsenic in its drinking water, while the two experimental groups received either the EPA standard of 10 parts per billion of arsenic or 42.5 parts per million of arsenic, a level known to have detrimental effects in mice. One part per billion is a thousand times smaller than one part per million. The mice were exposed during gestation, between 10 days after fertilization and birth, which corresponds to the middle of the first trimester and birth in humans.
"We unexpectedly found that exposure to arsenic before birth had a profound effect on onset of puberty and incidence of obesity later in life," said NIEHS reproductive biologist and co-author Humphrey Yao, Ph.D. "Although these mice were exposed to arsenic only during fetal life, the impacts lingered through adulthood."
The impacts Yao is referring to are obesity and early onset puberty, particularly in female mice. The researchers did not examine in this study whether males also experienced early onset puberty, but they did confirm that male mice exposed to arsenic in utero also displayed weight gain as they aged. Both the low and high doses of arsenic resulted in weight gain.
According to lead author NIEHS biologist Karina Rodriguez, Ph.D., the research team performed the experiment in three separate batches of mice, each containing a control and two experimental groups, and achieved similar results. She said although the biological process responsible for these effects remains unknown, the study highlights the need to continue researching long-term impacts of what mothers eat, drink, and breathe during pregnancy on the welfare of the offspring.
"It's very important to study both high doses and low doses," said Linda Birnbaum, Ph.D., director of NIEHS and the National Toxicology Program. "Although the health effects from low doses were not as great as with the extremely high doses, the low-dose effects may have been missed if only high doses were studied."
Latite Roofing Fined for Exposing Workers to Dangerous Falls
An OSHA violation is serious if death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard an employer knew or should have known exists. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule, or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.
The company has been cited nine times in the past five years. However, OSHA found that Latite Roofing is again exposing employees to the hazards of fall protection.
"Residential roofing work can be deadly when safety measures are not enforced. Latite Roofing has an extensive OSHA inspection history, but continues to expose employees to life-threatening safety hazards. Latite must assess its work practices immediately to ensure workers are protected," said Condell Eastmond, OSHA's area director in Ft. Lauderdale.
Proposed penalties total $136,500.
American Air Filter Co. Fined Nearly $120,000 for Continually Exposing Workers to Hazards
OSHA did not issue citations to the staffing agencies.
Proposed penalties total $119,900.
“This is the second significant enforcement action we’ve conducted at AAF International in the last six months,” said Bill Fulcher, director of OSHA’s Atlanta-East Area Office. “We found the same type of hazards during a recent inspection in a different area at the same plant. Management continues to allow workers to clean equipment without following safety procedures and without guards being properly installed. This company needs to address all workplace hazards, not just the ones for which penalties have been proposed.”
Employee Loses 4 Fingers at Wahlco Recycling Plant
When US Department of Labor inspectors entered a baby diaper recycling facility, they were investigating how a 54-year-old team leader had four fingers amputated in a recycling machine.
Proposed penalties total $74,480.
"One worker suffered a life-altering injury, and excessive combustible dust at Wahlco made for a disaster waiting to happen. An explosion could have injured dozens of employees," said Bill McDonald, OSHA's area director in St. Louis. "For the second time in two years, the company intentionally disregarded OSHA standards and requirements for machine safety—an unacceptable practice."
OSHA inspectors also found the company:
- Failed to train employees about machine hazards and combustible dust
- Lacked housekeeping to control dust
- Operated an inadequate respiratory control program
Retriev Technologies Cited for Exposing Workers to Dangerous Levels of Lead and Cadmium
OSHA inspectors found Retriev Technologies, Inc., failed to implement engineering controls and monitor employee exposure to these hazards. Proposed penalties total $74,250.
In 2012, the agency cited Retriev for similar hazards at the same facility, then known as Toxco, Inc.
"Retriev Technologies must protect the long-term health of it workers," said Deborah Zubaty, OSHA's area director in Columbus. "The company's compliance programs lacked information on controlling exposure levels, which harmed employees."
H & S Manufacturing Co. Inc. Fined for Exposing Workers to Multiple Hazards
OSHA’s Madison Area Office issued 13 safety and health violations to H & S Manufacturing Co., Inc., a farm machinery and equipment manufacturer.
The violations include:
- Improper use and maintenance of forklifts
- Failing to evaluate respiratory hazards
- Improper storage of flammable liquids
- Exposing workers to fire hazards from flammable spray operations
Proposed penalties total $59,000.
"If you work with forklifts or dangerous chemicals, you need proper training and working conditions. But workers at H & S Manufacturing Co. are being put at risk every day," said Ann Grevenkamp, OSHA's area director in Madison. "The company needs to evaluate its safety and health programs and make immediate improvements to protect workers on the job."
Alabama Roofing Contractor Sentenced for Making False Statements to OSHA Inspectors
On April 6, 2015, the US Department of Justice charged Marcus Borden with making false statements and lying to OSHA inspectors regarding an incident investigation at one of Borden's work sites in Cordova, Alabama, on March 18, 2013.
Borden told an OSHA inspector that he had been present on the job site on the day of the accident and that he had obtained personal fall arrest equipment to protect workers from falls on March 13, 2013, when actually he retained the equipment on March 18, 2013, after the incident occurred. Borden also claimed that employees had been tied off when he knew, in fact, they were not.
Borden was supervising a crew of five men working on a roofing project when a severe thunderstorm occurred. Three of the five men were seriously injured. One worker was thrown against the edge of a new metal roof and suffered a left arm amputation; a second worker was thrown across the roof and suffered an injured shoulder. A third worker became wrapped in a sheet of metal, managed to escape, but was carried by the momentum over the roof's edge and fell 30 feet to the ground. The worker broke his wrists, ribs, tailbone, and pelvis. None of the workers had been provided with fall protection equipment, none of them were tied-off to the roof at the time of the accident or had a means to exit the roof quickly.
OSHA cited Borden for six safety violations following the incident, including a willful citation for failing to provide workers with fall protection while working within 6 feet of an open edge that was 30 feet above the ground.
Additionally, four serious violations were cited for exposing workers to severe weather conditions and not securing metal decking during inclement weather conditions. One other violation was cited for failing to notify OSHA about the workers being admitted to the hospital due to a work-related incident. Borden contested OSHA's citations but later settled the case, agreeing to all violations as cited and a penalty of $55,000. The settlement was approved by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission and became a final order on July 23, 2014.
Borden pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements on May 13, 2015. On August 6 he was sentenced to three years of supervised probation and must complete 30 hours of community service.
"Marcus Borden provided false information to OSHA during the investigation and needs to face the consequences for his actions," said Kurt Petermeyer, OSHA's regional administrator in Atlanta. "The injuries sustained by the three employees could have been avoided if Borden had fulfilled his responsibility to ensure a safe working environment and provide the necessary protection to his workers."
Moving Company Cited in Heat-Related Death of Worker
The worker was packing and loading boxes in a moving truck on a day when the heat index reached 112 degrees Fahrenheit. He suffered heat stroke and died later that same day at a local hospital. He had been employed by the company for more than eight years.
There’s just no reason for a worker to die this way. “Additional breaks, water and shade are important preventive steps.”
Proposed penalties total $12,000.
Initial Meeting Set for Emergency Response and Preparedness Subcommittee of the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health
The subcommittee was established to help NACOSH respond to OSHA's request for advice and recommendations for a proposed rule on emergency response and preparedness. Subcommittee members have extensive knowledge and experience in the field. Over the next 12 to 18 months, the subcommittee will develop recommendations and regulatory text for a proposed rule and submit them to NACOSH for consideration. After deliberations, NACOSH will submit its recommendations and proposed regulatory text to the Secretary of Labor.
The meeting will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Room N-4437, US Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave, NW, Washington, DC.
To initiate and facilitate subcommittee discussions, OSHA will provide preliminary draft regulatory language for use as a reference. The tentative agenda includes an overview of that draft language, and a review and discussion of potential sections of a proposed rule, such as scope and employers' duties.
Future meetings will focus on other potential elements of a proposed rule, such as employee participation, facility and equipment preparedness, vehicle preparedness and operation, pre-incident planning, emergency incident standard operating procedures, post-incident analysis, and program evaluation.
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