Elk Grove Village, Illinois, shop exposes workers to respiratory, other hazards

Employer name: Bigston Corporation

Investigation site: 1590 Touhy Ave., Elk Grove Village, Illinois

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Chicago North Area Office issued 11 serious and two other-than-serious safety and health violations to the company on Aug. 4.

The serious violations include:

• Failing to comply with respiratory protection standards;
• Over-exposing workers to respirable and total dust;
• Not training employees about hazardous chemicals including combustible dusts in the workplace; and
• Electrical hazards.

OSHA issued two other-than-serious violations to the company for failing to post the annual injury and illness summary and not requiring employees to wear safety glasses.

Quote: "Thousands of workers are harmed by chemicals in the workplace every year. Proper respiratory protection can minimize their exposure and reduce the likelihood of illness," said Angeline Loftus, OSHA's area director for the Chicago North Office in Des Plaines. "Bigston Corporation needs to review its programs to keep its workers safe."

Proposed Penalties: $44,800

Link to citations: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/osha/OSHA20151361fs.pdf

To ask questions; obtain compliance assistance; file a complaint or report amputations, eye loss, 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 Chicago North Area Office in Des Plaines at 847-803-4800.