Somerville, New Jersey, company (Choice Cabinetry LLC) fined $136,290 for willfully exposing workers to safety and health hazards, such as methylene chloride

Oct. 2, 2014

Somerville, New Jersey, company (Choice Cabinetry LLC) fined $136,290 for
willfully exposing workers to safety and health hazards, such as methylene chloride

SOMERVILLE, N.J. – Custom-order cabinetry company Choice Cabinetry LLC exposed employees to safety and health hazards, many involving methylene chloride, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Initiated as part of its Site-Specific Targeting Program for industries with high injury and illness rates, OSHA's March 2014 inspection cited the Somerville company for 15 violations, including three willful. Proposed penalties total $136,290.


"Methylene chloride is a carcinogen, so it's vital that employers like Choice Cabinetry take all necessary steps to protect workers when there is exposure," said Patricia Jones, director of OSHA's Avenel Area Office. "All workers have the right to a safe and healthy work environment, and OSHA will hold each employer accountable when this legal obligation is not met."


Three willful violations were cited for the company's lack of a hazard communication program, hazard communication training and methylene chloride training. Workers exposed to methylene chloride are at increased risk of developing cancer and skin and eye irritation and may suffer adverse effects on the heart, central nervous system and liver. These willful citations carry a penalty of $53,900. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.


One failure-to-abate citation, with a $27,720 penalty, was issued for the company's failure to install alarms on the walk-in spray booth. Alarms would warn employees of inadequate ventilation during spraying operations. A failure-to-abate violation exists when the employer has not corrected a violation for which OSHA has issued a citation and the abatement date has passed or is covered under a settlement agreement.


Carrying a penalty of $21,560, four repeat violations were cited for damaging noise levels and respiratory program deficiencies. The company was previously cited for these violations at the same location in 2011. 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 other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.

The company was cited for seven serious violations, carrying a $32,340 penalty, due to employee exposure to methylene chloride, including a lack of personal protective equipment and eyewash facilities. 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 additional violation with a $770 penalty was cited because the company failed to provide injury and illness records within four hours of OSHA's request.


Citations can be viewed at: http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/ChoiceCabinetry2014.pdf*.


Choice Cabinetry has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet informally with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety & 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 Avenel Area Office at 732-750-3270.


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.

Judge affirms citations issued for chemical and mechanical hazards at South Fallsburg, New York, chicken processing plant (MB Consultants Ltd, d/b/a Murray's Chickens)

Oct. 7, 2014

Judge affirms citations issued for chemical and mechanical hazards
at South Fallsburg, New York, chicken processing plant

NEW YORK – Citations issued to MB Consultants Ltd., doing business as Murray's Chickens, for health and safety violations were affirmed by an administrative law judge from the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, upholding an earlier decision by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The violations occurred at the company's South Fallsburg chicken processing plant.

"This is a critical decision that this employer and others in the industry should pay close attention to," said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional administrator in New York. "Not informing production employees that the chemical hazards they worked with exposed them to potential illness, or that the absence of machine maintenance procedures left them vulnerable to lacerations, amputations or death, is unacceptable and will be enforced to the highest extent of the law."

OSHA cited the plant in May 2012 for a variety of safety and health hazards, including failure to provide employees with information and training about the hazards of products that contain peracetic acid and bleach, as required by OSHA's hazard communication standard. Violating OSHA's lockout/tagout standard, the company also failed to train production workers whose operations included servicing and maintenance of machines that could unexpectedly start up. 

MB Consultants contested its citations, and a hearing was held in Albany on May 21-22, 2013, before Administrative Law Judge William S. Coleman. Judge Coleman issued a ruling on Sept. 19, 2014, upholding these citations and their penalties. Terrence Duncan of the New York Regional Office of the Solicitor tried the case for the secretary of labor.
Judge Coleman found the employer had failed to train production workers on the hazards of chlorine bleach and Perasafe, an antimicrobial agent containing peracetic acid, hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid, used to disinfect chicken carcasses. The judge noted in his decision that employees told the OSHA compliance officer that they had experienced respiratory ailment symptoms and rashes consistent with the exposure symptoms described in the manufacturer's safety data sheets for Perasafe and chlorine bleach.

The judge also found that that the company's machine maintenance procedures were overly general, lacking sufficient detail to provide employees with the steps to protect themselves from amputation and laceration hazards while servicing equipment. Moreover, production workers were not given basic training on how to avoid injuries when service and maintenance work was needed. Two employees were injured when attempting to clear jams on equipment without knowledge of proper procedures.

From the date the administrative law judge's decision is docketed with the review commission, MB Consultants has 20 days to appeal. The original inspection was conducted by OSHA's Albany Area Office. The case was litigated for the department by its Regional Office of the Solicitor in New York.

The Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission is an independent federal agency created to decide contests of citations or penalties resulting from workplace inspections conducted by OSHA. An employer who is cited by OSHA for an alleged workplace health or safety violation can contest the OSHA citation and have the case heard by a commission administrative law judge, who ultimately issues a decision. The judge's decision can then be appealed to the commission, whose members are presidential appointees.

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. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

Judge upholds citations issued for bloodborne pathogen and lead exposure hazards at West Caldwell, New Jersey, company

Oct. 23, 2014

Judge upholds citations issued for bloodborne pathogen and lead exposure
hazards at West Caldwell, New Jersey, company

NEW YORK – Drivers and loading-dock workers at UniFirst Corp. were exposed to hazards that involved bloodborne pathogens and lead at its West Caldwell, New Jersey, facility, according to an administrative law judge from the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. On Sept. 30, Administrative Law Judge Carol Baumerich issued a ruling that affirmed all citations and penalties against the company from a 2011 inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.


"UniFirst's plain indifference to OSHA's requirements compromised the safety and health of its workers," said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional administrator in New York. "The judge's decision in this case sends a strong message to UniFirst and other employers: Those who ignore their legal responsibility to provide safe and healthy workplaces for employees will be held accountable."


OSHA cited the company for violations of its Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, including failure to conduct proper training and provide Hepatitis B vaccinations to drivers and loading-dock workers. These workers picked up and sorted dirty lab coats and other laundry from customers who regularly drew and/or tested blood. The workers were exposed to lab coats and laundry potentially contaminated with blood or improperly disposed of contaminated needles or syringes mixed in with the laundry. The company was also cited for exposing workers to lead hazards because employees were picking up laundry that had been contaminated with lead. Lead was subsequently found on work surfaces at the facility. 


UniFirst contested the citations, and a five-day hearing was held in Newark, New Jersey, beginning on May 22, 2013. Margaret Temple and Andrew Katz from the department's Regional Office of the Solicitor in New York tried the case. 


Judge Baumerich found that UniFirst's management routinely and intentionally falsified training sign-in sheets, intentionally required employees to sign training sign-in sheets without receiving training, forged employee signatures and allowed training to be conducted by managers who were not competent in the subjects they taught.

The judge determined that the majority of the company's employees neither received the Hepatitis B vaccine nor signed the form declining the vaccine. In some cases, employees were not given the option to receive the vaccine for months, and in some instances years, upon gaining employment at the facility. The judge also found that the company did not comply with OSHA standards requiring the use of biohazard bags.


Judge Baumerich concluded that employees did not receive training on the hazards of lead exposure until after the OSHA inspection began, although they were potentially exposed to airborne lead before the inspection. She determined that without the proper training, employees would not know that laundry could be contaminated with lead or how to handle potentially contaminated laundry and to wear appropriate personal protective equipment.


UniFirst Corp., based in Wilmington, Massachusetts, has 20 days from the date the administrative law judge's decision is docketed with the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission to appeal the ruling. The original inspection was conducted by OSHA's Parsippany Area Office. 


The commission is an independent federal agency that decides contests of citations or penalties resulting from OSHA workplace inspections. An employer who is cited by OSHA for an alleged workplace health or safety violation can contest the OSHA citation and have the case heard by a commission administrative law judge, who issues a decision. The judge's decision can then be appealed to the commission, whose members are presidential appointees.


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. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

Accurate Box Co. Inc.in Paterson, New Jersey cited again by OSHA for machine hazards. OSHA investigated in May 2014 after worker severely injured while performing maintenance

Nov. 17, 2014

Accurate Box Co. Inc.in Paterson, New Jersey cited again by OSHA for machine hazards.  OSHA investigated in May 2014 after worker severely injured while performing maintenance

PATERSON, N.J. – After entering a die cutting machine to do maintenance, a worker employed for 26 years at Accurate Box Co. Inc. in Paterson was crushed when the die cutter was activated by another employee unaware that the victim was inside. A subsequent investigation into the incident, which caused severe internal injuries to the worker, was initiated in May 2014 by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 

The investigation found that Accurate Box failed to prevent inadvertent machine startup and similar incidents because it had not implemented an effective lockout/tagout program. The manufacturer of corrugated cardboard boxes was cited by OSHA for the third time since 2010 for machine guarding hazards and lockout/tagout deficiencies at its Paterson manufacturing plant.

"This case clearly highlights why lockout/tagout and machine guarding measures are essential, especially in preventing amputation and crushing injuries," said Lisa Levy, director of OSHA's Hasbrouck Heights Area Office. "If OSHA's safety standards for machinery were implemented, this incident would not have occurred."
OSHA found that machine guarding was not provided to protect the machine operator, and it cited the employer for one repeat violation, carrying a $13,860 penalty. 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 other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.

Additionally, four serious violations related to lockout/tagout deficiencies were cited. These violations carry a $27,720 penalty. 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.

The company 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) or the agency's Hasbrouck Heights Area Office at 201-288-1700.

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.

Wreck involving 2 18-wheelers injures 2 people, blocks traffic on Nacogdoches loop in Texas

Wreck involving 2 18-wheelers injures 2 people, blocks traffic on Nacogdoches loop in Texas

NACOGDOCHES COUNTY, TX (KTRE) - 

Nacogdoches Police officers are working to clear a major rollover wreck involving two 18-wheelers on the loop near the Expo Center. One of the trucks, a log truck, rolled over and spilled its load.

Sgt. Dan Taravella with the Nacogdoches Police Department said two people were injured in the wreck. One man was taken to an area hospital for treatment of very serious injuries, and the other person was taken by personal vehicle to Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

Taravella said the Nacogdoches Police Department isn't releasing the names of the victims at this time because they're still trying to reach the victims' next of kin.

Both southbound lanes of traffic on Stallings Drive are blocked from Old Tyler Road to State Highway 21. Originally, southbound traffic was being diverted to Old Tyler Road. However, Texas Department of Transportation workers have set it up so that both north and southbound traffic has been switched to the northbound side of that section of the loop.

Motorists traveling south on the Expo Center side of the loop should use caution and expect travel delays. Traffic is flowing, but Taravella said unless you have a specific reason to go that way, it might be best to take an alternate route.
It could be hours before the wreck is cleared, Taravella said.