Niagara company faces OSHA fines for exposing workers to airborne lead and other hazards

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Tulip Corp. with nine alleged serious safety and health violations for exposing workers to airborne lead and other hazards following an October 2012 complaint inspection at its manufacturing facility on Highland Avenue in Niagara Falls. The manufacturer of plastic containers faces proposed fines of $47,700.

"Exposure to lead can damage the blood-forming, nervous, urinary and reproductive systems. Impaired health and disease can result from periods of exposure that can be as short as days or as long as several years," said Art Dube, OSHA's area director in Buffalo. "It is the employer's responsibility to minimize exposure levels, train employees and ensure all safeguards are in place."

OSHA's inspection found that workers were overexposed to airborne concentrations of lead. The airborne lead levels measured at the facility were 1.71 times the permissible exposure limit of 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air averaged over an eight-hour period. In addition, appropriate protective work clothing and equipment, including gloves, hats or respirators, were not used when employees were exposed to lead above the permissible exposure limit; all surfaces were not maintained as free as practicable of accumulations of lead; and employees entering lunchroom facilities with protective clothing or equipment were not required to remove surface lead dust by vacuuming or other acceptable cleaning methods. Other cited hazards included workroom floors not maintained in a dry condition and prohibited use of an electrical cord. 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.

"One means of eliminating hazards, such as these, is for employers to establish an injury and illness prevention program in which workers and management continually work to identify and eliminate hazardous conditions," said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional administrator in New York.

Common symptoms of acute lead poisoning are loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, difficulty sleeping, fatigue, moodiness, headache, joint or muscle aches, and anemia. For more information about lead exposure, visit http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/lead/index.html.

Tulip Corp. has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet with OSHA's area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Perma-Siding and Window Co to pay Omaha couple for failing to tell them about lead paint risks before reno work

Albracht Perma-Siding and Window Co., of Omaha, Neb., has agreed to pay a $6,188 civil penalty to the United States to settle allegations that it failed to notify an Omaha couple about lead-based paint risks before the company or its subcontractors performed renovation work at their pre-1978 home. 

It also failed to keep records of lead safe work practices it stated it performed at 10 pre-1978 homes in Lincoln, Bellevue, and Omaha, Neb.

According to an administrative consent agreement filed by EPA Region 7 in Lenexa, Kan., Albracht or its subcontractors were legally required to provide owners and occupants of the properties with an EPA-approved lead hazard information pamphlet before starting renovations at the properties. It is also required to maintain records of required lead safe work practices performed at the properties.

Provision of the lead hazard information pamphlet to property owners and occupants is one requirement of the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act, which Congress passed in 1992 as an amendment of the federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

The regulation is intended to protect owners and occupants of residential properties, child care facilities and schools built before 1978 from health risks associated with lead-based paint. Lead-based paint was banned for residential use in the United States in 1978. Most homes built before 1978 contain some amount of lead-based paint, and subsequent renovation activity of such properties can cause occupants to be exposed to dust, chips and debris that contain lead.

The Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act requires renovators of such properties to obtain certified training, follow safe work practices and record-keeping requirements, and take specific steps to make owners and occupants aware of health risks associated with lead exposure before renovation work occurs.

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Company that restores windows for historical buildings cited for exposing workers to airborne leads

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited History Construction Management LLC of Odell, Illinois for 22 alleged serious health violations. OSHA opened an inspection in May in response to a complaint and found that some workers were exposed to airborne lead at more than 40 times the permissible limit. Proposed fines total more than $59,000.

"Employers such as History Construction Management have a responsibility to ensure that operations are conducted in a way that eliminates or minimizes lead hazards, including exposure," said Tom Bielema, director of OSHA's Peoria Area Office. "Training workers to recognize lead hazards and take necessary precautions to prevent exposure is necessary to protect their health."

Fifteen of the violations relate to OSHA's lead standard, including failing to implement engineering and work practice controls to reduce exposure, collect full shift personal samples for monitoring, provide clean protective clothing, provide clean changing rooms or separate storage facilities for protective work clothing to prevent cross-contamination with street clothes, keep surface and eating areas free from lead dust accumulation, properly sweep up lead dust, provide training to employees about lead and post lead hazard warning signs.

Five violations of OSHA's respiratory protection standard involve failing to implement a respirator protection program that includes proper respirator selection, medical evaluation, fit testing and training. The remaining two violations are using flexible electrical cords as a substitute for fixed wiring and improperly altering electrical cords. 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.

History Construction Management, which specializes in restoring windows for historical buildings, previously was cited by OSHA in 2009 for failing to provide a hazard communications program and require the use of personal protective equipment.