Employees of New Britain, Conn., heat treatment plant face chemical, fire, explosion and mechanical hazards

Employer name: Metallurgical Processing Inc.

Investigation site: 50 — 58 Arthur St., New Britain, Conn. 06053

Investigation findings: The Hartford Area Office of the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration began inspections on Jan. 15, 2015, in response to employee complaints. The inspections found employees of the company, which performs heat treatment on metal parts, were exposed to a variety of fire, explosion, chemical and mechanical hazards.

Cited hazards include: not training and providing protective clothing and tools to employees who performed live electrical work; not inspecting a piping system carrying anhydrous ammonia; lack of a pressure relief valve on a nitrogen tank; and improper storage of incompatible chemicals and combustible materials. The company also lacked a complete and adequate program regulating employees' work in confined spaces and adequate safeguards for employees required to wear respirators. As a result of the hazardous conditions, OSHA has cited Metallurgical Processing Inc. for 24 serious violations of workplace healthy and safety standards.

Proposed penalties: $77,000

Quote: "To ensure the health and well-being of its employees, Metallurgical Processing Inc. must address and correct these hazards immediately," said Warren Simpson, OSHA's area director in Hartford. "Employers need to be proactive about safeguarding their employees against work-related hazards. It's not just good policy, it is good business."

To ask questions; obtain compliance assistance; file a complaint or report amputations, losses of an eye, 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 Hartford Area Office at 860-240-3152.