OSHA cites Environmental Remediation and Recovery Inc. after worker dies while cleaning oil residue inside rail car at Mounds, Illinois, facility
Dec. 4, 2014
MOUNDS,
Ill. – A U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and
Health Administration investigation found that Environmental Remediation and
Recovery Inc. did not have equipment or trained personnel to rescue a
27-year-old worker promptly who collapsed and later died while cleaning a rail
car. OSHA has cited seven willful and 14 serious safety violations, many
involving permit-required confined space safety regulations.
The company has also been placed in OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program.
OSHA determined that the employee entered a 30,000-gallon
rail car on May 20, 2014, and suffered from cardiac arrhythmia. He was unable
to exit the rail car on his own. The man had been on the job for about 14
months at the time of the incident.
"Permit-required confined spaces put workers at risk
for serious injury and illness from hazards," said Nick Walters, OSHA's
regional administrator in Chicago. "The employer must ensure that safety
equipment, such as retrieval lines and proper respiratory protection, is
provided to employees and used each time someone enters a confined space. Each
year workers are fatally injured when working in confined spaces."
Environmental Remediation failed to monitor permit-required confined spaces;
allowed entry when atmospheric conditions* were unacceptable;
and did not provide personal protective equipment, including self-contained
breathing apparatus and respirators. The company also failed to remove defective
respirators from use. A confined space is one large enough for workers to enter
and perform certain jobs, such as a rail car clean out, but it has limited or
restricted means for entry or exit and is not designed for continuous
occupancy.
In addition, the company failed to designate trained rescue
employees and use a retrieval system attached to the worker to aid in rescue.
OSHA cited the company for seven willful violations. 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.
Additionally, Environmental Remediation failed to comply
with respiratory protection requirements, maintain rescue equipment, ensure
ventilation equipment was used properly, and provide fall protection for
workers at the top of the rail car, which exposed them to falls of 15 feet or
more. A total of 14 serious citations were issued for these violations.
An OSHA violation is serious if death or serious physical
harm could result from a hazard an employer knew or should have known exists.
OSHA has proposed fines totaling $188,400. To view the
current citations, visit http://www.dol.gov/osha/pdf/Environmental-Remediation_977916_1118_14.pdf*
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 Fairview Heights Area Office at
618-632-8612.
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.