Painting contractor willfully exposed workers to lead on Danville worksite

Employer name: V&T Painting LLC, 29585 Gramercy Court, Farmington Hills, Michigan

Site: Danville Borough Municipal Authority Storage Site, Reservoir Street, Danville, Pennsylvania

Citations issued: On April 3, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for two willful, 13 serious and six other-than-serious violations.

Investigation findings: On Oct. 6, 2015, OSHA began its inspection in a proactive enforcement effort aimed at industries, such as construction, with high injury and illness rates. Inspectors found that workers in an abrasive blasting operation were exposed to lead as they removed paint on water tanks. While employees used respirators, the company chose not to use ventilation units it had onsite to reduce the levels of lead inside the tank. Inspectors also found the company exposed employees to lead when it failed to follow proper decontamination procedures that required a vacuum and showers onsite for employees to use as they exited the tank. OSHA cited the company for these hazards.

Citations were also issued for scaffold deficiencies and a lack of fall protection.

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

Proposed penalty: $121,880

Quote: “V&T Painting exposed its employees and their families to the unnecessary risk of unsafe lead exposure by not properly protecting them,” said Mark Stelmack director of OSHA’s Wilkes-Barre Area Office. “Lead harms the brain, nervous system, blood and kidneys. It is a hazard that must be taken seriously.  OSHA will not tolerate when employers fail to provide a safe and healthy workplace for workers.”

View the citations: http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/VTPainting_100042_1096418.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 Wilkes-Barre Area Office at 570-826-6538.