April 16, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Johnson Controls Battery Group again fails to monitor workers for lead exposure, faces OSHA penalties of $61K [04/16/2015]

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.

April 16, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Metal fabricator cited for exposing workers to amputation hazards [04/16/2015]

Employer name: M&M Manufacturing Co. LLC

Site: Houston, Texas

Date initiated: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated the March 2015 inspection after receiving a report of an amputation at the facility under the new OSHA recordkeeping and reporting requirements that became effective January 1, 2015.

April 16, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Allied Painting Inc. exposes employees to lead and fall hazards at Braga Bridge worksite in Fall River, Massachusetts [04/16/2015]

New Jersey-based painting contractor faces more than $41K in OSHA fines

Employer name: Allied Painting Inc., a painting contractor based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Inspection site: Charles M. Braga Jr. Memorial Bridge, Fall River, Massachusetts 02720

April 16, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Metal Shredders cited for willful, serious safety violations in electrocution death of welder in Miamisburg, Ohio [04/16/2015]

Parent company Cohen Brothers also cited for 3 serious electrical safety violations

Employer name: Cohen Brothers Inc., Middletown, Ohio; Metal Shredders Inc., Miamisburg, Ohio

Inspection site: Metal Shredders Inc., a subsidiary of Cohen Brothers, 5101 Farmersville-West Carrollton Road, Miamisburg, Ohio

April 15, 2015

OSHA News Release: Two Idaho Falls, Idaho, area mechanics fatally crushed in separate incidents [04/15/2015]

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — Two workers in the Idaho Falls area were killed in separate incidents when the vehicles they were working under fell from their makeshift supports and crushed them. The incidents occurred within a two-week period and within three miles of one another. Since Sept. 1, 2014, five of the nine workplace deaths in Idaho involved workers who were crushed under or by vehicles.

April 15, 2015

OSHA News Brief: OSHA cites Julio Galindo for 6th time in 9 years for failing to provide fall protection to workers [04/15/2015]

Company owner served with subpoena requiring him to cooperate with investigators

Employer name: Julio Galindo, 3812 Fayette Road, Columbus, Ohio

Investigation site: 3556 Oakway Drive, Toledo, Ohio

April 14, 2015

OSHA News Release: OSHA seeks comment on better protections for communication tower workers [04/14/2015]

WASHINGTON — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is asking the public for information about worker safety hazards in communication tower construction and maintenance activities. Public input will assist the agency in determining what measures are needed to prevent worker injuries and fatalities.

April 14, 2015

OSHA News Brief: OSHA cites Formosa Plastics Corp., 6 subcontractors for exposing workers to chemical hazards at Point Comfort, Texas, worksite [04/14/2015]

Employer names: Formosa Plastics Corp. Texas; Infinity Maintenance; Maxim Crane Works; APRM Inc., doing business as, Plant Maintenance Services; Clark Constructors LLC, Process Service Specialist and Turner Industrial Group

Site: Point Comfort, Texas

Date initiated: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration began investigating the natural gas processing facility in October 2014 after the facility experienced five incidents involving potential chemical releases in three days, resulting in worker injuries.

April 13, 2015

OSHA News Release: Worker loses fingertip on machine that lacked adequate safety controls [04/13/2015]

BEDFORD HEIGHTS, Ohio — On just his second day on the job, a 28-year-old man working on a machine to forge parts lost a fingertip in a November 2014 incident that investigators say could have been prevented if his employer had trained the man to properly operate the upsetter machine and the machine had proper safety mechanisms. The man was unable to work for two weeks after the injury.

April 13, 2015

OSHA News Release: Contractor exposes roofing workers to serious falls, respiratory hazards atop Housing Authority of Cook County building in Des Plaines, Illinois [04/13/2015]

DES PLAINES, Ill. — Each day, somewhere in this country, construction workers fall. One wrong step can send them tumbling down a steeply pitched roof, sliding or dropping off an unstable ladder, or left hanging fearfully from a scaffold. In these cases, one thing stands between them and tragedy: fall protection.

April 13, 2015

OSHA News Release: Chicago Dryer Co. fails to guard press brakes, operates damaged cranes carrying 3K-pound cylinders; OSHA proposes $171K in fines [04/13/2015]

CHICAGO — Hundreds of thousands of workers suffer finger, hand or foot amputations and other serious injuries each year in the United States because dangerous machines with moving parts lack proper safety mechanisms. Despite these dangers, one Chicago-based manufacturer ignored safety requirements and put workers at risk for debilitating injuries.

April 13, 2015

OSHA News Release: A. Hyatt Ball Co. Inc. exposes employees to fire, explosion, other hazards [04/13/2015]

ALBANY, N.Y. — A manufacturer of custom-sized resin balls used in the petroleum industry failed to protect its employees from the risk of death or serious injury from potential fires, explosions and other hazards by not providing and using mandatory safeguards, U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors have found.

April 10, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Southbury, Connecticut residential home builder exposes workers to potentially fatal fall hazards [04/10/2015]

Employer name: Rock Hard Homes, Inc., residential home builder, Southbury, CT

Inspection site: 13 Pembroke Road, Danbury, CT 06811

Date inspection initiated: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Bridgeport Area Office began an inspection on Nov. 7, 2014, after OSHA inspectors driving by the worksite observed fall protection hazards and immediately opened an inspection.

April 9, 2015

OSHA News Release: $3.5M in Susan Harwood safety and health training grants now available from US Labor Department [04/09/2015]

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration is accepting 2015 applications for targeted-topic training grants and capacity-building training grants under the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program. A total of $3.5 million is available for nonprofit organizations, including community and faith-based organizations, employer associations, labor unions, joint labor/management associations, tribal organizations, and colleges and universities.

April 9, 2015

OSHA News Release: Wood crate manufacturer fails to protect workers properly from excessive noise, hand injuries, dust hazards and other risks [04/09/2015]

ADAIRSVILLE, Ga. — An inspection of a wood crate manufacturer found that permanent and temporary employees faced excessive noise, improper hand protection and respiratory irritation due to wood dust exposure at the North American Container Corp. in Adairsville.

April 9, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Beacon Industries Inc. exposes employees to mechanical, electrical and other hazards at Newington, Conn., manufacturing plant [04/09/2015]

Employer name: Beacon Industries Inc., an aircraft engine and parts manufacturer, headquartered in Bloomfield, Connecticut.

Inspection site: 549 Cedar St., Newington, Connecticut 06111

Date inspection initiated: The inspection began Oct. 21, 2014, in response to a complaint.

April 8, 2015

OSHA News Release: OSHA says proper tank cleaning could have prevented worker's death [04/08/2015]

WILLISTON, N.D. — Dustin Payne traveled to North Dakota looking for a good job, the opportunity to use his skills and the chance to secure a future for him and his fiancée back in Alabama. Instead, the 28-year-old Marine veteran with combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan to his credit is dead, the victim of a massive explosion that his Williston employer could have prevented.

April 8, 2015

OSHA News Release: Court orders dentist to pay $85K to employee fired for safety complaint [04/08/2015]

Assistant raised dangers of used needles as Dr. N. Terry Fayad allegedly sought cost savings

BOSTON, Mass. — It began when Massachusetts dentist Dr. N. Terry Fayad changed his practice's procedure for disposing of contaminated needles. He told those in his Beverly-based office to first remove the protective caps before dropping them into sharps disposal containers, allegedly to fill the containers with more used needles and reduce the frequency and cost of their disposal.

April 7, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Foundry workers exposed to numerous safety and health hazards [04/07/2015]

Employer name: American Spincast Inc.

Inspection site: Belton, Texas