Lead paint suit results in $2.1 million award

Jury awards millions to youth, who was poisoned by
lead paint as a toddler.

A Baltimore jury has awarded nearly $2.1 million to a 17-year-old city youth who was allegedly poisoned by lead paint in the 1990s when he was a toddler in an East Baltimore rental home.

The judgment against Elliot Dackman and the estates of Sandra and Bernard Dackman came recently in Baltimore Circuit Court, at the end of the weeklong trial of a lawsuit brought on behalf of Daquantay Robinson by his mother, Tiesha Robinson.

The jury verdict shows the long-running tide of litigation over the widespread use of lead-based paint in Baltimore's older rental housing has yet to ebb, according to Bruce Powell, the Robinsons' lawyer.

Though Maryland lawmakers enacted a law in 1994 meant to protect young tenants from lead-paint risks, Powell said, "Here we are; there are still a lot of cases."

Dozens of cases remain outstanding naming Elliott Dackman as a defendant, for example.

Daquantay Robinson had enough lead in his blood to be considered poisoned for more than 18 months while his family lived in a Darley Park home owned by the Dackman Co., Powell said.

According to documents submitted at trial, blood samples taken every six months and analyzed by Johns Hopkins medical laboratories repeatedly revealed what were then considered to be elevated levels of the toxic metal in the toddler.

Sandra Moses, the youth's grandmother, who testified at the trial, said she noticed flaking and chipping paint in the home when the family moved in just before Daquantay was born. She said she called the landlord to complain about it some time later.

"They didn't send anybody out to do any repairs, and I called several times" Moses, 50, recalled.

Subsequent testing after the lawsuit was filed found that while the home has since been substantially renovated, there are still surfaces there with lead paint on them, the family's lawyer said.

Frank F. Daily, who represented the defendants, declined to comment. Circuit Judge Alfred Nance presided over the trial.

Expert witnesses called for the family testified that the youth suffered permanent brain damage as a result of his exposure to lead, leading to learning and behavior problems.

Exposure to lead paint has
resulted in brain damage,
expert witnesses say.

Moses said he "has a hard time keeping up with the other students" in high school.

"Studies have consistently shown that exposure to lead paint, especially in children under the age of 6, can result in a lifetime of medical expenses and financial instability," Powell said in a statement announcing the verdict. "Although no monetary settlement can replace what has been taken from this child, we do feel vindicated when the responsible landlords are brought to justice in court."

It's unclear how much money will actually go to the plaintiff. The jury awarded $1.27 million in economic damages for lost earnings and $818,000 for pain and suffering, the family's lawyer said, but noneconomic damages are capped under state law at $545,000.

The landlord's insurance company also contends it's only liable for a fraction of the damages because it didn't cover the property the entire time he lived there, Powell said.

"There's going to have to be further litigation to get the victim paid," the Robinsons' lawyer predicted.

The award, coming 15 years or more after the youth's alleged exposure to toxic lead paint, highlights the price people continue to pay for Maryland's gradual, at times halting approach to dealing with the health hazards posed by the paint's widespread use in housing decades ago, said Ruth Ann Norton, president and CEO of the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative. The group, formerly known as the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning, has advocated for stronger lead-paint laws and regulations for decades.

The Darley Park home had been registered with the Maryland Department of the Environment before the Robinsons moved in, as the law required then for all rental units built before 1950. (That was the year lead-based paint was banned in Baltimore city out of concern for its health effects.) Jay Apperson, a state spokesman, said department records contain certification of "full risk reduction" at the property in 1996 before the Robinsons moved in, also as required.

Apperson could not say how the risk reduction was verified. But Norton said that for many years, the state allowed landlords to get by with a visual inspection to certify that lead-paint hazards had been properly dealt with. The only reliable way to check was to swipe window sills and other surfaces for lead-paint dust so fine it couldn't be seen, she said. Lawmakers began requiring lead dust tests in 2012.

Also, in the late 1990s, health standards had yet to require action in cases like Daquantay's. Since 1991, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had said anyone with blood-lead levels of 10 micrograms per deciliter or higher was considered poisoned. But Maryland health authorities were not expected to contact a poisoned child's family or inspect the home unless the level reached 15 micrograms per deciliter, noted MDE's Apperson. Daquantay's highest blood level was a notch below that threshold.

Since then, the CDC has declared that no amount of lead in blood is safe and lowered its "reference" level to 5 micrograms per deciliter.

"The rates this kid had are no longer considered to be a low-level poisoning," Norton said. "These are high."

With increasingly tighter regulations and stricter enforcement, the number of lead poisoned children in Maryland has declined dramatically since the late 1990s. The state is moving now to regulate lead paint in rental homes built between 1950 and 1978, when the federal government banned its sale for interior use. The state also is looking to enforce federal regulations requiring house painters and home improvement contractors take precautions when working even in owner-occupied homes.

"Over the past decade, there has been an increase in enforcement" of lead-paint laws and regulations, Norton said. "It's just regrettable it took so long to get those things in place for this particular family. One hopes we see less of this as we move forward with stronger enforcement and stronger laws."

Source: Baltimore Sun

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OSHA fines Spectrum Machine $188,300 for exposing workers to lead hazards

RAVENNA, Ohio – Spectrum Machine Inc. has been cited with 13 health violations, carrying proposed penalties of $188,300, after a January inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found workers were exposed to lead and copper fumes above the permissible limits. Three willful violations involve the company's failure to monitor and train workers on lead hazards and develop a hazard communication program.

"Failing to monitor worker exposure to airborne metal particles can result in severe illness," said Howard Eberts, OSHA's area director in Cleveland. "By failing to develop a lead protection and hazard communication program, Spectrum Machine has demonstrated a lack of commitment to employee safety and health."

Spectrum Machine was cited for three willful safety violations for failing to conduct initial monitoring of workers exposed to lead and failing to provide training regarding the potential health hazards and necessary precautions to prevent lead exposure. The company was also cited for failing to develop a hazard communication program. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or plain indifference to employee safety and health.

A total of 10 serious safety violations cited include failing to develop a noise monitoring and lockout/tagout program to prevent the unintentional operation of machinery, provide fire extinguisher training and prevent worker exposure to airborne concentrations of both copper fumes and lead in excess of permissible exposure limits.

The other five serious violations involve OSHA's respiratory protection standards. These include failing to develop and implement a written respiratory protection program, train workers on the program, prevent the use of respirators with an inadequate protection factor and ensure the proper wear of respirators. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

OSHA has placed Spectrum Machine in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which mandates targeted follow-up inspections to ensure compliance with the law. OSHA's SVEP focuses on recalcitrant employers that endanger workers by committing willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations. Under the program, OSHA may inspect any of the employer's facilities if it has reasonable grounds to believe there are similar violations.

The current citations may be viewed at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/Spectrum_Machine_858103_0731_13.PDF*

Spectrum Machine manufactures industrial bearing parts and operates two facilities in Ohio. It employs about 50 workers. The company was previously cited in 2006 at its Streetboro facility for 13 violations, including allowing worker exposure to lead in excess of the permissible exposure limit.

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OSHA penalizes Bayonne rifle manufacturer for four repeat and four serious violations

Photo:Boaz Yiftach

Source: The Jersey JournalThe Jersey Journal
A Bayonne business still recovering from damages inflicted by Hurricane Sandy has been cited with four repeat and four serious safety and health violations, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced Tuesday.

Among the violations at Henry Repeating Arms, one of the country’s leading rifle manufacturers, was workers exposed to lead hazards, OSHA officials said in announcing $72,000 in penalties. OSHA said an inspection was performed in September.

The repeat violations, which carry a $46,800 penalty, include failing to develop and implement a written respiratory protection program for lead exposure; failing to evaluate, conduct tests and provide training for “half mask negative pressure respirators,” which protect against lead; and failing to ensure surfaces were maintained as free as practicable from lead accumulation.

OSHA considers these “repeat” violations because it says Henry Repeating Arms, on East First Street, was cited for similar violations in 2008.

Among the “serious” violations, with a $25,200 penalty, OSHA says Henry Repeating Arms failed to implement a hearing conservation program and training program and provide annual audiograms for workers exposed to noise above 85 and 90 decibels, and failed to make medical surveillance available upon a worker’s notification of signs and symptoms of lead intoxication.

OSHA officials said a serious citation is issued when there is “substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard” that the employer knew or should have known about.

“Exposure to lead and noise in the firearms manufacturing industry has been well-known for decades” said Kris Hoffman, director of OSHA’s area office in Parsippany. “OSHA’s standards must be followed to protect workers from exposure that can lead to lead-related illness and occupational hearing loss.”

Henry Repeating Arms president and owner Anthony Imperato said his company is taking corrective action.

“We are investing in a new state-of-the-art test-fire facility that will cost us approximately $500,000, which will alleviate this issue along with other internal measures,” Imperato said. “We have also retained the services of an OSHA consultant to keep us compliant.”

Henry Repeating Arms has three weeks from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the citations and proposed penalties before an independent panel.

Firing range employees may be inhaling lead

Photo: Niels Noordhoek

The "smoking gun" for gun range employees may be lead exposure.

Firing ranges should have a well-designed and operating ventilation system, explains Martin Cohen, director of the Field Research and Consultation Group at the University of Washington School of Public Health.

The researchers work with gun ranges to evaluate their ventilation systems and test their employees’ exposure to airborne lead levels which are generated when a gun is fired. The “smoke” in a smoking barrel is what may contain high concentrations of lead.

Cohen says that the methods that the employer and workers use to clean and maintain the range are crucial to protecting the workers from lead exposure. If workers sweep, fine lead dust particles can become airborne and produce a respiratory exposure hazard.

If a workers’ eight-hour average airborne lead levels exceeds the “action level” of 0.03 milligrams per cubic meter, the facility is required to comply with stringent regulations involving respiratory protection, ventilation controls, housekeeping and practices to keep the worker from leaving the facility with lead on their clothes or body.