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Region 1 News Release: 10-997-BOS/BOS 2010-323
Mon., July 26, 2010
Contact: Ted Fitzgerald
Phone: 617-565-2074
Email: fitzgerald.edmund@dol.gov

US Labor Department’s OSHA proposes more than $250,000 in fines against
two employers following explosion at Nashua, NH, manufacturing plant

CONCORD, N.H. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Worthen Industries Inc., a Nashua, N.H., manufacturer of glues and adhesives, and S.L. Chasse Welding & Fabrication Inc., a Hudson, N.H., steel erection contractor, for alleged violations of workplace safety standards following a Jan. 23 explosion at Worthen’s manufacturing plant on East Spit Brook Road. Combined penalties against the two employers total $257,500.

The explosion occurred when flammable vapors ignited while Chasse workers were installing a new motor on a vessel used in the plant’s manufacturing process. OSHA found that Worthen had not cleaned the vessel thoroughly enough to ensure the absence of flammable materials or vapors, and had not vented it prior to allowing welding to be performed. As a result, OSHA issued Worthen one willful citation with a proposed fine of $63,000. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health.

“Welding should not have been permitted until all feasible steps had been taken to remove flammable materials and the potential for ignition,” said Rosemarie Ohar, OSHA’s area director for New Hampshire. “This problem combined with numerous additional safety and health hazards identified at the Worthen plant account for the sizable proposed fines.”

OSHA identified numerous other hazards at the plant including an incomplete and inadequate process safety management program, fall hazards from an unguarded mezzanine and floor openings, accumulations of ice on exit stairs, a variety of electrical hazards, lack of personal protective equipment and tools, an incomplete and inadequate respiratory protection program, inadequate chemical hazard communication, not conducting initial monitoring for employee exposure to formaldehyde and methylene chloride, and incomplete illness and injury logs. These conditions resulted in 48 serious and five other-than-serious citations for Worthen with $162,400 in additional fines. A serious citation is issued when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known. Worthen’s fines total $225,400.

S.L. Chasse was cited for inadequately training its workers to recognize potential chemical, fire, explosion or toxic release hazards and appropriate protective work practices, and allowing welding to be performed where a flammable atmosphere was present. Other citations addressed lack of fall protection and machine guarding, and incomplete injury and illness logs. These conditions resulted in eight serious and six other-than-serious citations, with $32,100 in fines for Chasse.

Each employer has 15 business days from receipt of citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet with the OSHA area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. This inspection was conducted by OSHA’s Concord Area Office; telephone 603-225-1629. To report workplace accidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-6742.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

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U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audiotape or disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when placing your request at 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America’s employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit http://www.dol.gov/compliance.

Release Number: 10-1027-NAT

July 21, 2010

Contact: Office of Public Affairs

Phone: 202-693-4676

Statement of US Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis on passage of Miner Safety
and Health Act of 2010 by House Committee on Education and Labor

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today issued the following statement on the passage of the Miner Safety and Health Act of 2010 by the Committee on Education and Labor of the U.S. House of Representatives:

“The legislation passed today by the House Education and Labor Committee represents an important step forward in strengthening safety laws for our nation’s miners. This bill will compel operators who don’t take the safety and health of miners seriously to do so. In addition, by also strengthening the OSH Act, this bill will improve safety and health for all workers. Every worker deserves to come home safe at the end of a shift.

“There is a tremendous need for swift action on this legislation. I can think of no better way to honor the memory of Senator Robert C. Byrd and all of those workers who have died tragically on the job than to quickly pass this legislation. I hope the full House will take up this bill before the August recess.”

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U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when placing your request at 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America’s employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit http://www.dol.gov/compliance.

Release Number: 10-1034-DAL

July 22, 2010

Contact: Jason Surbey

Phone: 202-693-4668

E-mail: surbey.jason@dol.gov

US Department of Labor’s OSHA explains requirements for protective clothing during oil spill beach cleanup operations

WASHINGTON — U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration Assistant Secretary of Labor Dr. David Michaels, today issued the following statement:

“If someone is at a beach that has been impacted by the oil spill, they may see workers wearing protective clothing to prevent their skin from coming into contact with weathered oil. Skin contact with weathered oil can cause dermatitis.

“Workers who are on the beach, but are not going to come in direct contact with weathered oil, are not required to wear protective clothing. Any individual not wearing protective clothing should avoid coming in contact with the weathered oil.

“For workers involved in beach cleanup operations where solid tar balls or tar patties are being removed using shovels, rakes, buckets, etc., OSHA only recommends the use of gloves, boots and long pants, but not coveralls. In these cases, when such coveralls are not necessary, OSHA does not recommend using disposable coveralls because of concerns for heat stress.

“However, in other operations such as removal of oiled debris, cutting oiled vegetation, and mopping up liquid oil mouse, using chemical protective coveralls is warranted. These operations have a greater risk of skin contact with weathered oil; therefore, a greater level of protective clothing is necessary.

“OSHA has received reports that some workers have requested to wear the disposable coveralls not to protect their skin, but to protect their clothes from getting dirty. Individuals on beaches may not be able to differentiate between workers wearing coveralls to prevent clothes from getting dirty, such as cotton coveralls, and chemical protective clothing, such as Tychem or Tyvek, because they may look the same.”

For more information, please visit: http://www.osha.gov/oilspills/oil_ppematrix.html

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov

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U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when placing your request at 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America’s employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit http://www.dol.gov/compliance.

Region 1 News Release: 10-1004-BOS/BOS 2010-319

Thurs., July 22, 2010

Contact: Ted Fitzgerald

Phone: 617-565-2074

Email: fitzgerald.edmund@dol.gov

US Labor Department’s OSHA cites South Windsor, Conn., contractor,
for cave-in, trenching and fall hazards

HARTFORD, Conn. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Folsom Construction LLC, a South Windsor, Conn., contractor, for alleged willful, repeat and serious violations of excavation safety standards at a worksite in Rockville, Conn. The company faces a total of $61,800 in proposed fines.

“The gravity of this type of hazard cannot be understated,” said Paul Mangiafico, OSHA’s acting area director in Hartford. “The collapsing walls of a trench can crush or bury workers in seconds. That’s why a trench must have effective cave-in protection in place and in use every time workers enter it. The alternative could be swift and serious injury or death.”

OSHA inspectors opened the inspection on May 25 upon observing workers in an apparently unprotected trench at a water main installation site at the intersection of Union and Orchard streets. OSHA found that the trench lacked a protective system to prevent its walls from collapsing, thus exposing employees to potential cave-in hazards.

The workers in the trench were also exposed to being struck by loose rock or soil dropping from the face of the trench, and to cave-in and struck-by hazards from excavated soil and debris piled at the trench’s edge. Finally, the trench lacked a safe means of egress, exposing workers to falls of up to 8 feet.

As a result of its findings, OSHA issued Folsom Construction one willful citation with a proposed fine of $42,000 for the lack of cave-in protection, one repeat citation with a fine of $8,400 for the struck-by hazard from the excavation’s face, and three serious citations with $11,400 in fines for the remaining items. The repeat citation stemmed from a 2007 OSHA citation for a similar hazard at a Middletown, Conn., jobsite.

OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health. 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. Detailed information on excavation hazards and safeguards is available online at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/trenchingexcavation/index.html.

Folsom Construction has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, meet with OSHA or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The inspection was conducted by OSHA’s Hartford Area Office, telephone 860-240-3152. To report workplace accidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-6742.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

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U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audiotape or disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when placing your request at 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America’s employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit http://www.dol.gov/compliance.

Region 1 News Release: 10-998-BOS/BOS 2010-317

Wed., July 21, 2010

Contact: Ted Fitzgerald

Phone: 617-565-2074

Email: fitzgerald.edmund@dol.gov

US Labor Department’s OSHA proposes $130,050 in fines to Farmington,
Conn., aircraft parts manufacturer for fire, electrical and mechanical hazards

HARTFORD, Conn. – Widespread fire, electrical, mechanical and other hazards at a Farmington, Conn., aircraft parts manufacturing plant have resulted in a total $130,050 in proposed fines from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

EDAC Technologies Corp. was cited with 41 alleged serious violations of workplace safety and health standards following a comprehensive OSHA inspection, conducted under a program that targets workplaces with higher than average rates of restricted duty or days away from work due to on-the-job injuries or illnesses.

Specifically, OSHA found that workers were exposed to potential fire and explosion hazards from combustible dust collected in an inadequately designed dust collection system; several electrical safety deficiencies, including unguarded or ungrounded live electrical parts and equipment, and workers not trained in electrical safety related work practices; unmarked emergency exits and obstructed exit routes; inadequate precautions against the ignition of flammable vapors; lack of a site-specific lockout/tagout energy program; an unapproved boom attachment on a fork truck; damaged and unmarked lifting slings; an incomplete exposure control program; lack of a respiratory protection program; failure to determine employees’ exposure levels to hexavalent chromium; and numerous instances of unguarded moving machine parts.

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.

“The size of these proposed fines reflects the breadth and gravity of conditions identified at this workplace,” said Paul Mangiafico, OSHA’s acting area director in Hartford. “Left uncorrected, they expose workers to possible death or serious injury from fire and explosion, electrocution, falls, being caught in moving machine parts, crushing, exposure to hazardous chemicals, and being unable to exit the plant swiftly in the event of a fire or other emergency.”

EDAC Technologies has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The inspection was conducted by OSHA’s Hartford Area Office; telephone 860-240-3152.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

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U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audiotape or disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when placing your request at 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America’s employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit http://www.dol.gov/compliance.