OSHA watch
2020 budget proposal
President Trump's proposed budget calls for a $300,000 increase in the agency's budget, but includes an increase of almost $4 million for safety enforcement and workplace inspections and the number of full-time equivalent workers at the agency will increase by 33. Whistleblower protection is also slated to receive an extra $1.1 million, and the number of federal inspections budgeted in 2020 is projected to rise by about 300 to 33,133.
Six states sue over electronic reporting rollback
Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey and New York are challenging the "illegal and unjustified attempt to roll back (the regulation's) requirements for the public reporting of workplace injuries and illnesses..." in State of New Jersey v. R. Alexander Acosta. The states allege the Administrative Procedure Act was violated when the agency changed its course without a "reasonable explanation" for its new policy.
Input on powered industrial trucks sought
A Request for Information published in the March 11 Federal Register seeks input to aid in a possible update of the powered industrial trucks standard (1910.178). This standard covers forklifts, fork trucks, tractors, platform lift trucks and motorized hand trucks, among others.
Comments on the RFI are due by June 10.
New trenching and excavation videos
A free 11-minute video highlighting the importance of soil classification when planning trenching and excavation work has been released in English and Spanish.
The Region 6 Training Institute Education Centers recently released a video on trenching and excavation safety. The one-hour video addresses best practices, cave-in protection, resources and other hazards workers encounter in trenching.
Registration is required to access the video.
Revised webpages address safety in the agriculture and maritime industries
The Agricultural Operations webpage was revised to make it easier for users to find safety information on agriculture-related hazards, such as grain bins and silos, heat, machinery, pesticides, and other chemicals.
The revised Maritime Industry webpage offers compliance materials, training information, and other resources to eliminate hazards in longshoring and marine terminals, commercial fishing, and shipyards.
Enforcement notes
California
- Santa Ana-based Aardvark Clay & Supplies Inc., a ceramics firm, faces more than $250,160 in penalties for willful failure to properly guard equipment after an employee was fatally entangled in a clay manufacturing machine. Although the manufacturer had provided safety guards for the machinery, the employer removed the guards.
- Underground Construction Co., Inc. of Benicia received three citations and proposed penalties of $27,000 after two of its employees contracted Valley Fever. The workers were exposed to the fungal disease while using hand tools to dig trenches in Kings, Fresno and Merced counties-areas where the soil is known to contain harmful spores that cause the infection.
- West Coast Land and Development Inc., based in Concord, faces fines of $26,540 for eight violations after a worker was crushed to death by vertically stacked plywood at a San Rafael construction site.
Florida
- Two contractors, PCL Construction Services Inc. and Universal Engineering Sciences, were cited for safety violations after two employees suffered fatal injuries at a worksite for the new JW Marriott Hotel in Orlando. Inspectors found the contractors failed to inspect formwork, shoring, working decks, and scaffolds properly prior to construction to ensure that the equipment met the required specified formwork drawings. The contractors collectively received three violations totaling $157,792 in proposed penalties, including one willful citation to PCL.
- The Higgins Group Corp., operating as Higgins Premium Pet Foods, faces $95,472 in penalties for exposing employees to amputation, fall, and other safety hazards at its facility in Miami.
- Ammunition manufacturer, AMTEC Less Lethal Systems Inc., faces $188,290 in penalties for multiple serious violations, and a willful violation after an explosion fatally injured two workers at the company's Perry facility.
- Brinker Florida Inc., operator of a Chili's Grill and Bar restaurant in Doral, was cited for exposing employees to burns, falls, and other hazards after an employee suffered burns when falling from an unguarded platform into a hot water bath. The company faces proposed penalties totaling $62,513.
- Roofing and waterproofing contractor, TarHeel Corp., faces $32,013 in penalties for failing to provide employees with fall protection systems and to properly train their employees after an employee suffered fatal injuries in a fall at the Forest Glen Community in Naples.
- Venice-based Olin Landscaping faces $16,102 in penalties for failing to protect employees from heat-related illnesses and injuries and failing to report a workplace fatality to OSHA within 8 hours, as required.
Georgia
- Inspected under the National Emphasis Program (NEP) on Trenching and Excavation, Corley Contractors Inc., based in Dallas, faces $106,078 in penalties for exposing employees to excavation hazards while installing water and sewer lines at a worksite in Acworth.
- Inspected under the Regional Emphasis Program on Lead, U.S. Battery Manufacturing Co. is facing $115,594 in fines for exposing workers to lead, unguarded machinery, and other safety hazards at its facility in Augusta.
Massachusetts
- The DOL has filed a lawsuit against Boston-based contractor Tara Construction Inc. and its chief executive officer, Pedro Pirez, alleging that they retaliated against an injured employee by facilitating his arrest. The worker incurred a serious injury when he fell from a ladder and reported it to DOL. The Department alleges that shortly after the employee engaged in protected activities, the defendants initiated a law enforcement investigation and facilitated the employee's detainment by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Nebraska
- Western Engineering Company Inc. faces $89,032 in penalties when an employee suffered fatal injuries after being pulled into an unguarded slat/drag conveyor at the company's North Platte asphalt plant. Serious violations related to machine guarding, lockout tagout, confined spaces, and air monitoring.
Pennsylvania
- Warminster-based Etna Construction Inc. faces $208,560 in fines for failing to protect its workers against trenching hazards at a Philadelphia worksite.
Virginia
- Virginia Occupational Safety and Health issued 12 citations and $528,692 in penalties to T.D. Fraley & Sons, Inc., after a worker who was removing scaffolding sections received an electric shock from contact with a power line.
Wisconsin
- Nemak USA Inc., based in Sheboygan, faces penalties of $26,520 for two serious health violations, the maximum penalty allowed by law, for exposing workers to metalworking fluids used on aluminum after three employees were diagnosed with occupational hypersensitivity pneumonitis, a debilitating lung disease.
- In Secretary of Labor v. Packers Sanitation Services Inc., an administrative law judge with the OSHRC held that Packers Sanitation Services, based in Kieler, failed to guard a quill puller machine and ensure walking services were safe for employees and upheld the assessment of nearly $20,000 in citations.
- A follow-up inspection of Avid Pallet Services LLC of Beloit found that the company failed to implement sufficient engineering controls to limit dust exposure, as well as train employees on the health hazards of wood dust. The company faces penalties of $188,302 for repeat, serious, and other-than-serious safety and health violations.