Alabama aluminum foil manufacturer endangers workers; OSHA cites company for 25 serious safety and health hazards

Feb. 19, 2015


Employer name: Arora Technologies doing business as ATI Foil Inc.


Inspection site: 2615 Memorial Parkway SW, Huntsville, Alabama 35811


Date inspection initiated: OSHA initiated the investigation on Aug. 6, 2014, after receiving a complaint.


Inspection findings:

OSHA issued 25 serious citations to the employer for not providing personal protective equipment to workers exposed to corrosive liquids; not providing emergency showers or eyewash stations near workers handling corrosive liquids; not establishing a hazard communication plan; and not ensuring machinery could not accidentally start up during maintenance and servicing. 

The agency cited eight other violations for failing to provide lockers for workers to prevent contamination of their street clothes and for failing to properly clean-up asbestos spillage. 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. 


Quote: "Employees at ATI Foil shouldn't have to risk their health or their lives just to earn a day's pay," said Ramona Morris director of OSHA's Birmingham Area Office. "ATI exposed its workers to hazards such as amputations, chemical burns and even blindness. "Employers must ensure a safe and healthful workplace." 


Proposed Penalties: $57,600


A copy of the citations is attached.

ATI has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a 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 Birmingham Area Office at 205-731-1534.

Worker loses toes in Waterville, Kansas, grain bin incident due to safety violations. Beattie Farmers Union Cooperative Association faces nearly $66K in OSHA fines

Feb. 24, 2015

WATERVILLE, KANSAS 

He walked into the grain storage bin on his own two feet, but he left in an ambulance. The 35-year-old had been working for the Beattie Farmers Union Cooperative for about a year when one day he became entangled in an auger that was inadvertently turned on while he was cleaning out the bin. At the hospital, doctors amputated all the toes on his left foot. 

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigated the Aug. 28, 2014, incident and found that the company failed to place locking devices* on augers to prevent them from being turned on while workers were in the bin. After identifying one willful, one repeated and three serious safety and health violations, OSHA proposed penalties of $65,900. 

"Beattie knows how to protect its workers, but failed to do so, and because of their negligence, this worker lost all the toes on his left foot," said Judy Freeman, OSHA's area director in Wichita. "Workers in the grain handling industry are regularly exposed to danger-from engulfment to dangerous equipment to potential explosions from grain dust accumulation. Industry leaders must ensure their workers are trained on all necessary precautions to avoid these hazards." 



OSHA's inspection found that Beattie employees were simultaneously cleaning out two steel grain bins in preparation for the fall harvest. The auger for one bin was turned on while the worker who was injured was inside cleaning out grain. The company willfully exposed the worker to caught-in and amputation hazards by failing to prevent the auger's unexpected startup. The employee has not been able to return to work since the incident.


A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirement, or with plain indifference to employee safety and health. 


Inspectors also noted that drive pulleys on the bucket elevator legs and augers lacked adequate safety mechanisms to prevent workers from coming into contact with operating machinery parts. Beattie was cited for this violation previously at its facility in 2010. OSHA issues repeated violations if an employer was cited previously for a similar violation within the past five years.


Workers were also exposed to fall hazards because ladder floor openings were not protected with guardrails and hatch covers. Additionally, poor housekeeping practices allowed grain dust to accumulate, exposing workers to explosion hazards. Three serious violations were cited. An OSHA violation is serious if death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard an employer knew or should have known exists. 


The force from such an explosion can cause employee deaths, injuries and destruction of buildings. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board identified 281 combustible dust incidents between 1980 and 2005 that led to the deaths of 119 workers, 718 injuries and numerous extensively damaged industrial facilities. 


In 2010, following the deaths of at least 26 U.S. workers in grain bin entrapments, the highest number on record, OSHA focused its enforcement effort on the grain and feed industry's six major danger areas. These include engulfment, falls, auger entanglement, struck-by, combustible dust and electrocution hazards. OSHA has also published information related to common grain-industry hazards and abatement methods, proper bin entry techniques, sweep auger use and many other grain-related topics.


Based in Beattie, the Beattie Farmers Union Cooperative employs 41 workers at six locations and has annual sales of about $60 million. The Waterville location handles grain, feed, seed, bulk liquid, dry fertilizer and other agricultural products. The company also has locations in Frankfort, Marietta, Blue Rapids and Summerfield.


The Beattie Farmers Union Cooperative Association 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 Wichita Area Office at 316-269-6644.


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.

Bentley Laboratories exposed temporary workers to chemical, noise and machine hazards. OSHA fines Edison, New Jersey, manufacturer and staffing agency $53K for violations

FEBRUARY 24, 2015

Employer name and location: Bentley Laboratories LLC, which manufactures products for the beauty and pharmaceutical industries, is located in the Raritan Center at 111 Fieldcrest Avenue in Edison, New Jersey. Joulé Clinical & Scientific Staffing Solutions, a division of System One, provides staffing services to Bentley Laboratories and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 


As many as 50 temporary workers were on site during peak season at Bentley's manufacturing facility in Edison.


Date investigation initiated: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated an inspection on Oct. 16, 2014, in response to a complaint.


Investigation findings: Bentley Laboratories was cited for 14 serious violations including failure to:

• train workers on chemical hazards,
• maintain a hearing conservation program for employees exposed to excessive noise,
• develop procedures and training to control potentially hazardous energy, and
• properly guard machines to prevent amputations.

Joulé was cited for three serious violations involving the lack of a hazardous communication program, and training related to hazardous chemicals and energy-control procedures.


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.


"We see these kinds of violations frequently, especially in the case of temporary workers," said Patricia Jones, director of OSHA's Avenel Area Office. "Both the hiring company and the staffing agency are legally responsible for the safety and health of their workers."


For more information on protecting temporary workers, visit https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3735.pdf*

The companies have 15 business days from receipt of citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.


Proposed penalties: $45,000 for Bentley Laboratories LLC, and $8,000 for Joulé Clinical & Scientific Staffing Solutions, a division of System One.


View the citations: http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/BentleyLaboratoriesLLC1001216_0219_15.pdf * http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/JouleStaffingSolutionsaSystemOneDivision_1012458_0219_15.pdf*

1 DEAD AFTER VEHICLE COLLIDES WITH AMBULANCE IN SOUTH JERSEY

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

MAGNOLIA, N.J. (CBS)

An investigation is underway into a deadly accident involving an ambulance and a car in Camden County, New Jersey.
Police say the collision happened around 5 a.m. Monday morning along South White Horse Pike and Evesham Avenue East in Magnolia Borough.
Officials say the vehicle crossed the over the yellow lines on the roadway and slid sideways in front of the ambulance.
Police say the vehicle was severely damaged and the driver and was transported to Kennedy Hospital in Stratford where he was pronounced dead.
Police say the two occupants of the ambulance suffered non-life threatening injuries and were treated and released. There were no patients in the ambulance at the time.
Authorities say the vehicle involved in the crash was reported stolen to Sayreville Police on Sunday. Officials add that speeding appears to be a contributing factor to the accident.
The crash remains under investigation by the Magnolia Police Department

FIRE THAT KILLED 12,000 PIGS IN TRUMAN, MINNESOTA RULED ACCIDENTAL

FEBRUARY 24, 2015

TRUMAN, MINNESOTA

State investigators have concluded an investigation into a huge fire that killed more than 12,000 pigs and hogs at a southern Minnesota swine farm.

The State Fire Marshal Division released its conclusion Tuesday that the blaze at Cougar Run near Truman in Martin County was accidental and caused by excessive heat from pressure washers.

Firefighters from 10 agencies battled the fire last October. The blaze destroyed three buildings, 3,300 sows and 9,000 piglets. The report says the livestock loss alone is valued at $1.3 million.

Investigators say the heat from the gas-fueled pressure washers operating for four hours ignited some insulation in an attic area next to a chimney exhaust stack.

A second operation with 2,800 sows about a mile away was not affected. 

Together they employed about two dozen people, none of whom were injured in the fire.