Johnson Controls Battery Group again fails to monitor workers for lead exposure, faces OSHA penalties of $61K

Employer name: Johnson Controls Battery Group Inc.

Investigation site: 10300 Industrial St., Holland, Ohio

Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: On Nov. 25, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated a follow-up inspection at Johnson Controls Battery Group. The wet and dry battery manufacturer was previously inspected by OSHA in April 2012.

Investigation findings: Investigators found Johnson Controls Battery Group Inc. failed to conduct additional monitoring for lead exposure when employees worked 12-hour shifts and failed to keep surfaces free from accumulations of lead. OSHA issued two repeated safety violations

Exposure to lead can cause impaired kidney function, high blood pressure, nervous system and neurobehavioral effects.

"Companies that work with lead have a responsibility to monitor worker's exposure and keep facilities clean," said Chad Positano, OSHA's assistant area director in Toledo. "Johnson Controls Battery Group needs to make immediate changes to its safety and health programs. Being cited for repeated violations demonstrates a lack of commitment to employee safety and health."

OSHA issues repeated violations when an employer has been previously cited for the same or a similar violation in the past five years.

A serious violation was noted for failing to protect workers from rotating parts of machinery by installing guards.

Proposed Penalties: $61,600

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Toledo Area Office at 419-259-7542.