OSHA fines shipyard more than $500,000
OSHA Actions
OSHA fines shipyard more than $500,000
Despite charges that the federal government is losing some of its backbone in enforcing safety in the workplace, largely because of political considerations, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in Washington, DC, is making it clear that it still wields a big stick. OSHA recently assessed fines of more than a half million dollars against one employer, a similar amount divided among three companies working together, and nearly a half-million dollars against another.
Company officials were cited individually in one case, upping the ante for administrators who don’t think the risk of corporate fines are enough reason to take the required measures to protect workers.
In one case, a total of 473 instances of alleged workplace safety and health violations, including exposing employees to potentially fatal falls, prompted OSHA to propose fines totaling $537,000 against Avondale (LA) Industries’ shipyard. Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman issued a statement saying the stiff penalties were warranted because Avondale ignored safety requirements related to fall prevention, one of the areas OSHA has targeted for particularly stringent enforcement.
Falls leading cause of work deaths
Falls are a leading cause of on-the-job fatalities, and OSHA reports that Avondale put its workers at risk of falls of up to 90 feet. Three Avondale employees have fallen to their deaths in the last 15 years, one each in 1984, 1993, and 1994. In assessing the large fines, OSHA reports that its inspection determined the same conditions related to those fatalities continued to exist at the shipyard. OSHA classified that as "continued willful disregard for their employees’ safety."
OSHA issued 60 citations against the shipbuilder, grouping 473 instances in which the employer allegedly failed to follow safety or health standards. These involved willful or serious violations, including:
four citations for willful violations, involving 266 instances, with proposed penalties of $280,000; 55 serious violations, involving 206 instances, with proposed penalties of $253,500.One other citation was issued for a less serious violation, with a penalty of $3,500. OSHA proposed the maximum fine of $70,000 for each of the four willful categories.
Willful violations are those committed with an intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and OSHA regulations. A serious violation is defined as one in which there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result, and the employer knew or should have known of the hazard.
Avondale Industries has 6,600 employees in the shipyard, building ships for commercial ventures and the U.S. Navy. The employees are represented by the New Orleans Metal Trades Council, which has 11 trade unions at the shipyard.
Agency responded to union complaints
OSHA’s inspection was in response to union complaints about more than 60 hazards involved in the shipbuilding operations. The complaints involved possible imminent danger from falls as well as serious health issues.
Pertaining to willful violations, OSHA’s citations were for these actions:
failure to provide safe scaffolding as well as inadequate points of anchorage for employees who were tying off with lanyards for fall protection;guarding of manholes and comparable small openings;
guarding of an open-sided floors and decks;
lack of training for employees exposed to fall hazards.
The citations for alleged serious violations included violations of a wide variety of standards covering both general industry and shipbuilding.
Avondale apparently did not help its case when OSHA inspectors knocked on its door. Company officials refused to hand over important documentation. OSHA began its inspection Oct. 5, 1998, and was denied access to medical and training records Oct. 26.
The agency brought an action in federal court to enforce the subpoena seeking the medical records. An order was issued granting the agency unfettered access to the records sought and ordered Avondale to produce such records by Jan. 23, 1999.
The agency obtained a warrant Jan. 22, 1999, and went back Jan. 27 to conduct a comprehensive fall protection inspection. OSHA is continuing to examine those records for possible record-keeping violations.
$517,000 levied against 3 Texas companies
OSHA has proposed penalties totaling $517,000 against three contractors for safety violations at a construction site in North Richland Hills, TX, a suburb of Fort Worth. Similar to a Louisiana case, a large portion of the fines was related to inadequate fall protection.
One company cited was Norstar Building Corp., the prime contractor for the apartment construction site. It is the Dallas subsidiary of Norstar U.S.A. Ltd. whose parent company is based in Toronto. Norstar was cited for $128,800 in proposed penalties. Pyramid Framing Contractor Inc., a subcontractor based in Mesquite, was cited for $199,200. Cornerstone Masonry, a subcontractor based in Fort Worth, was cited for $189,600.
The alleged violations were discovered during an unscheduled inspection on Nov. 2, 1998, when bricklayers and framers were found working on scaffolds and steep roofs with no fall protection. OSHA’s standards require that fall protection be provided for employees working on a scaffold more than 10 feet in height and for employees working on a steep roof where a fall of six feet or more could occur.
Employers ignored OSHA warning
OSHA reports that it advised employers of the violations, but when OSHA investigators returned to the site on Jan. 2, they found that the company had failed to comply and found additional violations.
On Jan. 26, compliance officers observed a bricklayer working on a scaffold without fall protection. Norstar was informed that any further observations of employees working without fall protection would result in the issuance of an imminent danger notice and that OSHA would seek a restraining order against the construction site until the unsafe conditions were corrected.
Norstar was cited for 13 serious violations, Cornerstone was cited for 11 serious violations, and Pyramid was cited for 12 serious and two repeated violations of OSHA safety standards. In addition, each of the companies were cited for four willful violations of safety standards.
The construction companies’ fines were partly the result of a special community emphasis on construction-site safety. The Fort Worth OSHA office sends compliance officers to patrol areas of construction activity looking for obvious fall and safety hazards.
OSHA launched the special program because there has been a significant increase in construction workplace fatalities in the Fort Worth area, according to Dean Wingo, OSHA Fort Worth area director. There were nine construction workers killed in calendar year 1997 compared to 19 construction-related deaths in calendar year 1998. Construction-related falls from heights are the leading cause of workplace fatalities in the Fort Worth OSHA area.
Poor fall protections lead to fines
Another big fine in New Jersey shows that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is targeting fall protection all over the country.
Construction workers were exposed to numerous safety hazards, including plummeting 150 feet because of no fall protection at the work site, according to OSHA. The government cited Avcon, a Westwood, NJ, firm specializing in concrete work, for 15 alleged violations, including eight alleged willful violations related to the lack of fall protection, unguarded floor openings, and failure to provide head protection, during the construction of a 16-story apartment building.
The alleged citations were issued against the company in general and individually to the company’s president, Vasilios Saites, and his on-site assistant superintendent, Nicholas Saites. Also cited was Altor, a New Jersey concrete contractor who subcontracted the work to Avcon to complete the project.
OSHA’s inspection was prompted by telephone complaints received from employees working at the job site in October 1998. The project was a 16-story poured-concrete apartment building in Edgewater, NJ. The complainants alleged a lack of fall protection, unguarded floor openings, hard-hat violations, and a lack of debris nets. The subsequent inspection validated the complaints, OSHA reports. Further, the inspection revealed only a single 24-inch-high railing located on the uppermost floor of the building for fall protection. Current standards require a 42-inch-high railing with a midrail.
Commenting on the scope of the alleged violations, OSHA Administrator Charles Jeffress says Avcon is a company "that just doesn’t get it." In only two years of business, Avcon has had two projects and both were the subject of OSHA inspections. Citations alleging similar fall protection violations were issued as a result of both inspections. Jeffress says Avcon has a "cavalier attitude toward worker safety and health."
Avcon employs approximately 70 workers. In April 1998, OSHA issued citations to the company alleging similar fall protection violations with a total proposed penalty of $134,000. That case is currently pending litigation.
Instance-by-instance’ violations
In the most recent citations, six of the eight alleged willful violations are being proposed as "instance-by-instance," carrying penalties of $56,000 each, and address lack of fall protection on separate floors. Two additional alleged willful violations relate to unguarded floor openings and failure to wear head protection. The total penalty for all eight alleged willful violations is $412,000.
Avcon also was cited for six alleged serious violations, totaling $12,000, for an inadequate safety and health program, failure to clear scrap lumber and debris from work areas, unsafe material storage, no protection from falling debris, lack of ground fault circuit interrupter protection, and improper use of a safety belt as part of a personal fall arrest system. Finally, one alleged other-than-serious violation, with no penalty, was issued addressing non-availability of a shoring layout plan.
Occupational Health Management tried to obtain comments from the cited companies regarding the OSHA citations and penalties, but none responded. The companies can contest the OSHA citations and may negotiate smaller fines than those originally proposed.
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