News Release
Syracuse iron foundry agrees to correct serious hazards, implement enhanced safeguards following US Department of Labor inspection, litigation
NEW YORK – A Syracuse iron foundry cited by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for dozens of health and safety violations has agreed to correct 60 cited hazards, implement enhanced corrective measures and pay $276,189 in penalties in a settlement agreement with the department.
OSHA’s Syracuse Area Office cited Frazer & Jones Co. Inc. in November 2019 following safety and health inspections that identified multiple hazards, including:
- Exposing employees to crystalline silica, silica dust and combustible dust.
- Inadequate respiratory protection.
- Fall, struck-by and caught-between hazards.
- Unsafe work floors and walking surfaces.
- Deficient confined space safeguards.
- Inaccessible or unavailable fire extinguishers.
- An impeded exit route.
- Lack of an effective pest removal program.
- Failure to prevent the build-up of bird feces on equipment.
The settlement, deemed a final order of the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission effective Oct. 14, 2021, contains enhanced abatement measures the employer will take, including:
- Semi-annual inspections of the facility by a safety consultant.
- Addressing the consultant’s recommendations for action, and sharing them with the facility’s labor-management safety committee and the corporate parent’s board of directors.
- Implementing systems to receive and respond to employee complaints.
- A ventilation consultant will evaluate the facility’s dust control system for overhaul.
“The hazards our inspectors found at Frazer & Jones Co. Inc. exposed workers to potential injuries and long-term health effects. This settlement requires correction of those hazards and it commits the employer to implement ongoing measures to prevent these conditions from recurring in the future,” said OSHA Area Director Jeffrey Prebish in Syracuse.
“Employers are responsible for providing their employees with safe and healthful workplaces. When they fail to do so, the U.S. Department of Labor will actively pursue appropriate legal actions to change that behavior and compel future compliance with the law,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Jeffrey Rogoff in New York.
OSHA’s Syracuse Area Office conducted the original inspections. Trial Attorney Rosemary Almonte of the department’s regional Office of the Solicitor in New York negotiated the settlement for the department.
Secretary of Labor v. Frazer & Jones Co. Inc. d/b/a Frazer & Jones Co. a Division of the Eastern Co.
OSHRC Docket Nos. 19-1849 & 19-1850.
