Tarentum, Pennsylvania, manufacturer again cited for exposing employees to electrical, other safety hazards

Employer name:  RESCO Products Inc., doing business as Worldwide Refractories, is located at 6^th & Center Streets in Tarentum, Pennsylvania.  The company is a manufacturer of dolomitic brick and specialty refractory products, which are used to line ladles in the steel industry.

The corporate headquarters is located at 2 Penn Center West, Suite 430 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Citations issued: On Dec. 18, 2015, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Pittsburgh Area Office issued citations for one repeat, 13 serious and two other-than-serious violations.

Investigation findings: OSHA initiated an inspection on June 28, 2015, under its Site Specific Targeting for industries with high injury and illness rates. Most of the issued citations were related to electrical hazards, including forklift operators having to maneuver forklifts and hoppers too close to energized conductors; allowing the use of damaged motor control centers with bent and broken panels, switches, and handles; and exposing employees to electric shock and arc flash hazards by allowing them to use defective electrical equipment and operate forklifts in close proximity to electrical equipment.

The employer has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Proposed penalties: $40,600

Quote:  “The failure to ensure that electrical equipment is maintained in a safe operating condition can be extremely dangerous and potentially deadly,” said Christopher Robinson, director of OSHA’s Pittsburgh Area Office.  “Resco Products has not met its obligation as an employer and needs to do a much better job identifying and eliminating electrical hazards at its Tarentum facility.”

View the citations: 

http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/RESCOProductsIncdbaWorldwideRefractories_1084449_1218_15.pdf

This is the fourth time in the past two years that OSHA has cited the company for safety and health hazards.  The company was previously cited in July 2015, October 2014 and August 2014.

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 Pittsburgh Area Office at 412-395-4903.