Hotel cosmetics manufacturer exposed employees to dangerous chemicals

OSHA found new and repeated hazards
at the manufacturing facility.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – A leading maker of soap and shampoo for hotels and retail sale exposed workers to chemical and fire hazards and blocked emergency exit routes, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found in a November 2014 inspection.

A company that provided it the manufacturer with temporary employees was cited for chemical-related hazards.

The fact that new and repeated hazards were found shows Marietta Corp. must take worker health and well-being more seriously.

Acting on employee complaints, inspectors visited Marietta Corp. in Cortland and found flammable liquids were not stored or used properly; employees with respirators were not trained or checked medically; and containers with hazardous chemicals were not labeled correctly.

Similar hazards were found at the Cortland plant in 2011 and at the company's Chicago facility in 2010.

In addition, inspectors found workers without needed eye and face protection and emergency eyewash stations; employees not trained in the use of dangerous chemicals; and forklift operators who did not receive refresher training.

In total, Marietta was cited for three repeat and six serious violations with $103,800 in fines.

Select Staffing, the temporary agency that recruits workers for Marietta, received two serious violations with $10,000 in fines proposed. The staffing agency did not provide workers exposed to dangerous chemicals with proper eye and face protection; lacked accessible data sheets for hazardous chemicals; and did not prove that a hazard assessment had been done to determine what protective equipment employees would need.

In April 2013, OSHA announced an initiative to improve workplace safety and health for temporary workers, who are at increased risk of work-related injury and illness. The initiative includes outreach, training and enforcement to ensure that temporary workers are protected in their workplaces.

OSHA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health have issued a "Recommended Practices*" publication that focuses on ensuring that temporary workers receive the same training and protection that existing workers receive.

The companies have 15 business days from receipt of their 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.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance.

Source: OSHA.

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Mechanics exposed to chemical hazards

OSHA cites Illinois garage for 5 repeat safety violations

Auto body shop workers may be exposed to dangerous
chemicals and other hazards, experts say.

A complaint investigation found that Transport Tech LLC failed to provide employees with an effective training program, including information on appropriate handling and safe use of hazardous chemicals at its Hillside repair facility.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited the company for five repeat safety violations, carrying proposed penalties of $66,400.

"Workers have the right to know what chemicals they are exposed to and how to protect themselves against exposure, which can have severe health effects," said Angeline Loftus, OSHA's area director at the Chicago North office in Des Plaines.

"Employers have a responsibility to provide accurate information about the hazards their workers face each day, and Transport Tech failed to do that."

OSHA initiated an inspection on March 28, 2014, after it received a complaint alleging hazards at the shop, which provides repair services for trucks operated by the national carrier Central Transport LLC.

Transport Tech failed to put identification and warning labels on containers filled with hazardous chemicals.

The company also failed to have an eyewash station readily accessible and provide portable fire extinguisher training, as required.

In addition, floors at the facility were not kept clean and dry to prevent slips and falls. The company was cited for similar violations in 2011 at the same facility.

OSHA issues repeat violations if an employer previously was cited for the same or a similar violation of any standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.

Transport Tech, based in Warren, Michigan, has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742).

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance.

Source: OSHA

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Health industry moving away from flame retardants

Medical and dental offices aim for a
healthier indoor environment.

Aiming to make its hospitals and medical offices healthier for people, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, the nonprofit health care consortium, said it will no longer buy furniture treated with flame-retardant chemicals.

The decision applies to all Kaiser facilities across eight states, including Washington and Oregon, and the District of Columbia, serving 9.3 million health-plan members.

That includes eight medical and dental offices in Clark County.

The announcement means Kaiser is the first health care system to make such a change, said Kathy Gerwig, a vice president and environmental stewardship officer for Kaiser, "but we expect many more announcements to be forthcoming."

That's partly because Kaiser believes that its decision to shift the $30 million it now spends annually on furniture toward chemical-free chairs, benches and sofas will trigger a ripple effect in the larger supply chain, prompting others to follow suit.

"We want manufacturers to shift to new products that don't contain harmful chemicals," Gerwig said. "That won't happen without marketplace pressure."

The decision by Kaiser — an Oakland, Calif.-based company that operates more than 38 hospitals and 600 medical offices — also responds to a state law recently passed in California.

That law updated flammability standards for upholstered furniture, allowing manufacturers to meet the standards without using flame-retardant chemicals.

Gerwig said such chemicals have been linked to cancer, reproductive problems and developmental delays in children. What's more, she said, studies show flame-retardant chemicals "offer no significant benefits in the fire-safety performance of furniture."

Health groups offer support

In announcing the initiative, Kaiser enjoys the support of two groups: Health Care Without Harm and Healthier Hospitals Initiative. Those groups are advancing national and global efforts to improve environmental health and sustainability in the health care industry.

Since health care is 18 percent of the U.S. economy, the sector, through its purchasing power, can "play a critical role" in moving other industries toward removing toxic flame retardants, said Gary Cohen, president of Health Care Without Harm.

"We need to remove these flame retardants from our bodies, from homes, our hospitals, from our schools and from commerce," he said. And in the absence of federal reform, Cohen added, "we'll push the marketplace to get health care to lead by example."

The Kaiser initiative focuses on new furniture purchases, so it's unclear when the company would become 100 percent free of furniture treated with flame retardants. In a news release issued Tuesday, Kaiser said "it expects to see safer furnishings in its hospitals within the next one to three years."

Kaiser has previously sought safer alternatives to products used in health care settings, according to the company's news release.

For example, it encouraged manufacturers to produce PVC-free carpets and to develop fabrics that eliminate chemicals such as vinyl, heavy metals and volatile organic compounds.

Source: The Columbian

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Unsafe conditions lead to more occupational safety workers

Canadian province adds 12 new occupational safety workers after increase in workplace fatalities

The Nova Scotia government is adding 12 positions to its occupational health and safety division that it says align with recommendations from the province's former auditor general.

Number of workplace fatalities in
Nova Scotia nearly doubled in 2012.

In his fall report, Jacques Lapointe said Labour Department inspectors need to do a better job of following up after identifying safety issues.

Lapointe said only a small fraction of employers in Nova Scotia were given tickets for safety violations over a one-year period, despite missing deadlines.

At the time, Labour Minister Kelly Regan agreed her department had to be more consistent in enforcing its rules.

Regan says the 12 positions are in addition to five new safety inspectors announced last year and will focus on education, enforcement and compliance in the workplace.

The number of workplace fatalities from traumatic injuries in Nova Scotia jumped to 10 in 2012-13, up from six during the same period a year earlier.

Source: OHS Canada

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Chemical exposure at work linked to bladder cancer

High bladder cancer rate shrouds New York plant, exposing chemical hazards in the workplace

Chemical plant workers were exposed
to hazardous chemicals for decades.

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — Ray Kline signed on as an operator at the local Goodyear chemical plant in 1960 and logged just short of 40 years. He routinely worked six days a week, 12 hours a day, retiring in 1999 as head of maintenance.

Kline, 75, has also endured two bouts of bladder cancer. Strong evidence suggests the disease was work-related.

In a yet-to-be published study, federal health investigators have confirmed 50 cases of bladder cancer among plant employees through 2007, nearly three times the number that would have been expected in the general population of New York State.

The unofficial tally to date, compiled by a lawyer for some of the cancer victims, is 58 cases.

The likely trigger in most instances, investigators concluded, was a chemical, still used by Goodyear and others, called ortho-toluidine.

The disease made its appearance in 1972 and continues to plague this decaying pocket of western New York. Many question why the chemical’s most prominent manufacturer, DuPont, took so long to issue warnings.

The long-running episode underscores the limits of regulation and points up the insidious nature of occupational illnesses, which by one estimate take more than 50,000 lives in America each year.

It’s a cautionary tale at a time when more than 80,000 chemicals, many carrying unknown or little-understood health effects, are on the market in the United States.

Workers can become unwitting test subjects, made vulnerable by employers that fail to act on scientific knowledge or, in extreme cases, suppress the truth.

Three years before Kline landed at Goodyear, the plant began making Nailax, an antioxidant that keeps tires from cracking. Three U.S. companies supplied a key ingredient, ortho-toluidine, at various times from the 1950s into the 1990s; DuPont supplied Goodyear for the longest period, almost four decades.

Manufacturer knew of risks

By 1955, records show, DuPont knew the chemical caused bladder cancer in laboratory animals and protected its own workers from it. But it didn’t issue warnings to Goodyear and other customers until 1977, the year Kline’s son-in-law, Harry Weist, started at the Niagara Falls plant.

It would be another 13 years before Goodyear would take significant steps to reduce exposures to ortho-toluidine in the plant. By then, the outbreak of bladder cancer was under way.

Kline was case No. 21, diagnosed in 1997. Weist was No. 37, diagnosed in 2004.

In a statement to the Center for Public Integrity, Goodyear said it “takes the issue of ortho-toluidine exposure at the Niagara Falls plant very seriously. We are deeply concerned and continue to be committed to actions to address the issue.”

DuPont said it “conducts its business in accordance with the highest ethical standards and in compliance with all applicable laws to ensure the safety and health of our employees, our customers, and the people of the communities in which we operate. Our experience with ortho-toluidine was no exception.”

Its communications about the chemical were, DuPont said, “commensurate with the state of scientific knowledge” at the time.

Steve Wodka, a lawyer in Little Silver, N.J., maintains DuPont could have told Goodyear how to use ortho-toluidine safely by 1957, when Goodyear’s rubber chemicals division opened in Niagara Falls.

“There were so many warning signals,” said Wodka, who has sued DuPont and other ortho-toluidine suppliers on behalf of 24 bladder cancer victims from Goodyear and three from the now-shuttered Morton International chemical plant in Paterson, N.J. “If people had simply heeded them, there would have been a lot of lives saved.”

Editor's note: This article has been edited for length. 

Source: Center for Public Integrity

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Anti-bacterial soaps under scrutiny in US

Triclosan and other chemicals used in
anti-bacterial products may pose risks.
Photo by graur razvan ionut/
FreeDigitalPhotos.net

After more than 40 years of study, the U.S. government says it has found no evidence that common anti-bacterial soaps prevent the spread of germs, and regulators want the makers of Dawn, Dial and other household staples to prove that their products do not pose health risks to consumers.

Scientists at the Food and Drug Administration announced recently that they are revisiting the safety of triclosan and other sanitizing agents found in soap in countless kitchens and bathrooms.

Recent studies suggest triclosan and similar substances can interfere with hormone levels in lab animals and spur the growth of drug-resistant bacteria.

The government's preliminary ruling lends new support to outside researchers who have long argued that the chemicals are, at best, ineffective and at worst, a threat to public health.

"The FDA is finally making a judgment call here and asking industry to show us that these products are better than soap and water, and the data don't substantiate that," said Stuart Levy of the Tufts University School of Medicine.

While the rule only applies to personal hygiene products, it has implications for a broader $1 billion industry that includes thousands of anti-bacterial products, including kitchen knives, toys, pacifiers and toothpaste. Over the last 20 years, companies have added triclosan and other cleaners to thousands of household products, touting their germ-killing benefits.

Under a proposed rule, the agency will require manufacturers to prove that anti-bacterial soaps are safe and more effective than plain soap and water. Products that are not shown to be safe and effective by late 2016 would have to be reformulated, relabeled or removed from the market.

"I suspect there are a lot of consumers who assume that by using an anti-bacterial soap product, they are protecting themselves from illness, protecting their families," said Sandra Kweder, deputy director in the FDA's drug center. "But we don't have any evidence that that is really the case over simple soap and water."

A spokesman for the cleaning product industry said the FDA already has "a wealth of data" showing the benefits of anti-bacterial products.

The announcement affects virtually all soap products labeled anti-bacterial, including popular brands from CVS, Bath and Body Works, Ajax and many other companies.

The rule does not apply to hand sanitizers, most of which use alcohol rather than anti-bacterial chemicals.

An FDA analysis estimates it will cost companies $112.2 million to $368.8 million to comply with the new regulations, including reformulating some products and removing marketing claims from others.

The agency will accept data from companies and researchers for one year before beginning to finalize the rule.

The proposal comes more than four decades after the FDA began evaluating triclosan, triclocarban and similar ingredients. The government only agreed to publish its findings after a three-year legal battle with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group that accused the FDA of delaying action on potentially dangerous chemicals.

Triclosan is found in an estimated 75 percent of anti-bacterial liquid soaps and body washes in the U.S. More than 93 percent of anti-bacterial bar soaps also contain triclosan or triclocarban, according to the FDA.

The FDA was asked to investigate anti-bacterial chemicals in 1972 as part of a law designed to set guidelines for dozens of common cleaners. But the guidelines got bogged down in years of regulatory delays and missed deadlines. The agency published a preliminary draft of its findings in 1978, but never finalized the results until last week.

Most of the research surrounding triclosan's safety involves laboratory animals, including studies in rats that showed changes in testosterone, estrogen and thyroid hormones. Some scientists worry that such changes in humans could raise the risk of infertility, early puberty and even cancer.

FDA scientists stressed Monday that such studies are not necessarily applicable to humans, but the agency is reviewing their implications.

Other experts are concerned that routine use of anti-bacterial chemicals such as triclosan contributes to the emergence of drug-resistant germs, or superbugs, that render antibiotics ineffective.

In March 2010, the European Union banned the chemical from all products that come into contact with food, such as containers and silverware.

A spokesman for the American Cleaning Institute, a soap cleaning product trade organization, said the group will submit new data to regulators, including studies showing that company products do not lead to antibiotic resistance.

The group represents manufacturers including Henkel, Unilever and Dow Chemical Co.

Source: SFGate

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Recycling plant fined for lack of respiratory protection

Companies may have to pay large fines
if they fail to protect workers.

EAST TROY, Wis. – Strategic Materials Inc., a glass and plastic recycling company, has been cited for 11 health violations carrying proposed fines of $82,000.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found a repeat violation involving the company's failure to develop and implement a respiratory protection program following a May complaint inspection of the East Troy facility.

"Strategic Materials must protect the respiratory health of its workers and maintain a workplace free of known hazards," said Kim Stille, OSHA's area director in Madison. "As one of the nation's leading recycling companies, it should know the hazards unique to the industry."

A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.

Similar violations were cited in August 2012 at the company's Sarasota, Fla., facility.

Nine serious violations include failing to prevent workplace exposure to airborne concentrations of dust and lead above the eight-hour time-weighted average limit; prevent excessive accumulation of combustible dust; provide respiratory protection; have a hearing conservation program; implement engineering controls for dust accumulation; and have training on the bloodborne pathogen standards and hazardous chemicals in use in the workplace.

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 other-than-serious violation involves failing to train forklift operators. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.

The Houston-based company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Previously inspected by OSHA at several of its 40 locations nationwide, this was the first at the company's East Troy facility.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

Source: OSHA News Release

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Study to shed light on people's attitude toward health and safety

IOSH funds research into public's attitude toward health and safety regulations

Health and safety measures often include
personal protective equipment and air
cleaners, as shown above.

A study led by the University of Reading in partnership with the University of Portsmouth and funded by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) will examine how the social standing and perceived value of health and safety regulation has changed over the last 50 years.

Researchers will interview key stakeholders from health and safety practice, including former regulators, politicians, policymakers, workers and trade union safety representatives, employers and managers, and others who have played an active role in health and safety law during the period.

Health and safety regulations affect everyone, and they have become an important area of the law, according to the project's principal investigator Prof. Paul Almond of the University of Reading.

He mentioned the recent Deepwater Horizon BP disaster in 2010 and events such as the Piper Alpha oil rig fire that brought the need of protective laws to the forefront of people's minds. The laws are designed to protect the public from harmful side effects of work.

The nature of the laws has changed from very specific and prescriptive complex laws to a broader law also covering the office-based service-sector economy.

Based on facts and figures, these laws have become a success story, with rates of death, injury  and illness falling significantly, but there seems to be a negative stigma attached to the concept of health and safety.

The researchers hope to uncover the reasons why the public is not embracing health and safety regulations, and what kind of actions may cause this situation to change.

Workplaces have changed over time, and the nature of the hazard is very different than what it was in the 1960s and 1970s, says Jane White,  IOSH Research and Information Services manager.

"Now we face a juxtaposition between the public perception of red tape and the reality of a legal framework that is fit for purpose."

The project is scheduled to last two years.

This article has been edited for length. Source: Occupational Health & Safety Online

Breathe cleaner air at work

Exposure to contaminated air can affect workers' health and well-being. Unfortunately, most building materials, textiles, finishing products and electronics can contribute to poor indoor air quality.

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Chemical info available through EPA Web Tool

Tool expands access to scientific, regulatory information on chemicals

The web tool allows for a comparison
of multiple chemicals.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a web-based tool, called ChemView, to significantly improve access to chemical specific regulatory information developed by EPA and data submitted under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

The ChemView web tool displays key health and safety data in an online format that allows comparison of chemicals by use and by health or environmental effects.

The search tool combines available TSCA information and provides streamlined access to EPA assessments, hazard characterizations, and information on safer chemical ingredients.

In addition, the new web tool allows searches by chemical name or Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) number, use, hazard effect, or regulatory action. It has the flexibility to create tailored views of the information on individual chemicals or compare multiple chemicals sorted by use, hazard effect or other criteria.

The new portal will also link to information on manufacturing, processing, use, and release data reported under the Chemical Data Reporting Rule, and the Toxics Release Inventory.

In the months ahead, EPA will be continuously adding additional chemicals, functionality and links. When fully updated, the web tool will contain data for thousands of chemicals. EPA has incorporated stakeholder input into the design, and welcomes feedback on the current site.

To view and search ChemView, click here.

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Health club fumes an occupational hazard

A recent chemical fumes leak in a health club in South Wales serves as a reminder about how important clean air is in a work environment.

In the incident last Sunday, more than 25 fire and rescue service officers were dispatched to the men-only Greenhouse Health Club in Newport just after 9 pm, when a chemical leak was reported in.

An explosion in the club's pump room is being blamed. The chemicals stored in the room include hazardous substances used for sauna and pool maintenance.

Indoor swimming pool and hot tub maintenance
often involves the use of harsh chemicals.

Due to the explosion, a small amount of bromine was released, a chemical that is used to sterilize hot tubs, for example.

One person was treated and taken to the hospital after inhaling the chemical fumes.

There were eight clients in the club at the time.

The fire and rescue service officers secured the site and evacuated all guests, wearing chemical suits and breathing apparatus. The incident took almost five hours to resolve.

Source: BBC News

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US Labor Department's OSHA cites two Missouri companies after construction worker dies from chemical exposure

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Coatings Unlimited Inc. in Bridgeton with a total of 14 safety violations from an August 2012 incident in which a worker overcome by exposure to methyl ethyl ketone collapsed and died inside an 18-foot-deep vault manhole during construction of the Boschertown sanitary sewer lift station. St. Louis-based KCI Construction Co. Inc., the project's general contractor, was also cited with one serious violation.

"Employers have a responsibility to take all necessary steps to eliminate hazards from the workplace and to ensure workers are given the proper training to conduct required tasks. Workers should be provided with the appropriate personal protective equipment to limit exposure to hazardous chemicals," said Charles Adkins, OSHA's regional administrator in Kansas City, Mo. "It is tragic that one employee lost his life during this construction project."

The three willful Coatings Unlimited violations include failing to implement safety precautions prior to assigning an employee work in six separate confined spaces, test the confined space for atmospheric conditions prior to and during entry, and control exposure to methyl ethyl ketone through the use of engineering controls, such as ventilation, to ensure workers did not exceed the permissible exposure limit. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirement, or plain indifference to employee safety and health.

Coatings Unlimited was also cited with 10 serious violations, five for violating OSHA's respiratory protection standards, including failing to provide work site procedures to protect employees when an atmospheric condition existed in a confined space; provide a knowledgeable person as a respirator program administrator manager; provide medical evaluations to all employees using respirators; and provide annual respirator training and maintain respirator fit-test training records. The remaining violations involve failing to provide proper chemical-resistant gloves for methyl ethyl ketone use; provide training on the hazards of chemicals used in the workplace or on confined space hazards; provide fire extinguishers on scene for use when flammable liquids were in use; and provide adequate use of portable extension ladders as a means of egress from a confined space.

Coatings Unlimited was also issued one other-than-serious citation for failing to label storage tanks with signage to identify chemical hazards. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.

KCI Construction was cited with one serious violation for failing to conduct frequent and regular inspections of the job site material and equipment by a competent person and train workers to recognize unsafe confined space conditions. 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.

Due to the nature of the hazards and the violations cited, OSHA has placed Coatings Unlimited Inc. 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 who 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 citations for Coatings Unlimited can be viewed at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/CoatingsUnlimited-601618-0215_13.pdf*
Citations for KCI Construction Co. can be viewed at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/KCI-629298-0215_13.pdf*.

Proposed penalties for Coatings Unlimited total $224,000 and for KCI Construction, $5,600. Both companies have 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report 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 St. Louis Area Office at 314-425-4261.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

OSHA cites Dayville, Conn., cosmetics manufacturing plant for chemical and other hazards

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited U.S. Cosmetics Corp. with 20 alleged serious violations at its manufacturing plant on Louisa Viens Drive in Dayville. The safety and health inspections, which began in October 2012, were conducted under OSHA's Site-Specific Targeting Program that directs enforcement resources to workplaces where the highest rates of injuries and illnesses occur. Proposed fines total $53,561.

"These citations address a cross section of electrical, mechanical, chemical and other hazards that can exist in a manufacturing environment, but which must be addressed systematically and effectively to protect the safety and health of workers at this plant," said Warren Simpson, OSHA's area director in Hartford. "Left uncorrected, they expose employees to the hazards of electrocution, arc blasts, lacerations, falls and being trapped or overcome in confined spaces."

OSHA's Hartford Area Office inspection found that the employer failed to develop and implement an electrical safety-related work practices program for employees performing live electrical diagnostic work and supply personal protective equipment to employees performing live trouble-shooting, or who verified that electrical equipment was properly de-energized. Additionally, maintenance personnel had not been trained regarding safe electrical work practices and personal protective equipment.

OSHA also identified deficiencies in the plant's program regulating employees' entry into confined spaces to perform work. These included entry permits that did not address entry procedures, safeguards and hazards, not locking out hazardous power sources before entry and no rescue service or retrieval equipment to remove employees during an emergency in a confined space. The inspection found instances of unguarded machinery; fall and tripping hazards; unlabeled containers of hazardous chemicals; ungrounded containers used to dispense flammable liquids; lack of quick drenching facilities for employees working with caustic chemicals; and ungrounded electrical equipment, damaged power cords and other electrical hazards. 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.