Featured This Week

Employment Safety

• Haverhill, Mass., contractor faces more than $43,000 in OSHA fines for trenching and ladder hazards at Billerica, Mass., jobsite
• OSHA seeks applications for $6.7 million in new safety and health training grants
• OSHA cites Howard Fertilizer & Chemical Co. for 23 safety violations with $236,000 in proposed penalties

Haverhill, Mass., contractor faces more than $43,000 in OSHA fines for trenching and ladder hazards at Billerica, Mass., jobsite

OSHA has cited a Haverhill, Mass., contractor for alleged willful and serious violations of safety standards at a Billerica, Mass., worksite. Cape Ann Equipment Inc. faces a total of $43,200 in proposed fines.

The citations and fines resulted from an OSHA inspection, opened Sept. 17, 2007, when agency inspectors, driving by a water main repair site at Boston Road and Cook Street, observed a Cape Ann Equipment employee working in a 7-foot-deep trench that lacked any cave-in protection. OSHA standards require that all trenches 5-feet or deeper be guarded against a collapse of their sidewalls.

"The potential for death or serious injury in this or any unguarded trench is real and imminent," said Rose Ohar, OSHA's acting area director in Methuen. "Cave-ins occur suddenly and without warning, crushing employees beneath tons of soil or debris before they can react or escape. That's why collapse protection must always be in place before employees enter a trench."

OSHA has issued to Cape Ann Equipment one willful citation, with a proposed fine of $42,000, for the lack of cave-in protection. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health.

One serious citation, with a $1,200 fine, has been issued for ladder safety deficiencies, including ladder misuse and using an exit ladder of insufficient height. A serious citation is issued when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

Trenching safety is an OSHA priority. Under OSHA's National Emphasis Program, agency inspectors will stop and open an inspection on the spot when they observe employees working in unprotected trenches, as happened in this case. Detailed information on trenching and excavation safety, including an interactive e-Tool, is also available on OSHA's Web site at www.osha.gov/SLTC/constructiontrenching/index.html.

"Employers who are tempted to send their employees into an unprotected trench should reconsider, and not just because an OSHA inspector may spot them," said Ohar. "They should think long and hard about the human, as well as the legal and financial, consequences if that trench collapses and buries employees."

Cape Ann Equipment has 15 business days from receipt of its citations to request and participate in an informal conference with OSHA or to contest the citations before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The inspection was conducted by OSHA's Methuen Area Office (telephone 617-565-8110). Employment Safety and Health Guide Daily Document Update ¶20,677a.

OSHA seeks applications for $6.7 million in new safety and health training grants

OSHA has announced in the Federal Register that it is seeking applications for Susan Harwood Training Grants. OSHA awards funds to nonprofit organizations to provide training and education programs for employers and employees on safety and health topics selected by OSHA. Nonprofit organizations, including community- and faith-based organizations, that are not state or local government agencies, are eligible to apply. The application deadline is May 23, 2008.

Approximately $6.7 million is available for the Harwood targeted topic training grants. For this grant announcement, 18 training topics were selected. These include combustible dust; falls from scaffolds, ladders and roofs in construction; and food processing health hazards, such as diacetyl exposures, in popcorn and other food flavoring facilities. Grants will be awarded for a 12-month project performance period.

Applications for grants must be submitted electronically using the government-wide http://www.grants.gov Web site. Applicants can complete this mandatory online registration at any time; however, registration must take place before beginning the application process. Grant applications must be received electronically by the system no later than 4:30 p.m. EDT on Friday, May 23, 2008. No extensions of the deadline will be granted.

Any questions regarding this announcement should be directed to Cynthia Bencheck, Program Analyst, at bencheck.cindy@dol.gov, or Jim Barnes, Director, Office of Training and Educational Programs at barnes.jim@dol.gov, telephone 847-297-4810. Further information on the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program is available on OSHA’s website at http://www.osha.gov/dcsp/ote/sharwood.html. Employment Safety and Health Guide Daily Document Update ¶20,679a.

OSHA cites Howard Fertilizer & Chemical Co. for 23 safety violations with $236,000 in proposed penalties

OSHA has cited Howard Fertilizer & Chemical Co.'s Groveland, Fla., facility with 23 safety violations and proposed $236,000 in penalties.

"This company is putting its employees' lives at risk by failing to correct serious safety hazards and to educate its employees about these hazards," said Les Grove, OSHA's area director in Tampa.

OSHA has cited the fertilizer manufacturer with failing to fully abate three hazards that OSHA had identified during a previous inspection. The agency has proposed $138,000 in penalties against the company for not informing and training employees about recognized dangers, not installing standard railings on open-sided catwalks, and exposing employees to confined spaces and electrical hazards.

The company has been cited with 12 repeat violations, carrying $72,000 in proposed penalties, for failing to provide fall protection, not instituting lockout procedures (to prevent accidental energization start-ups) and machine guards on equipment, and exposing employees to numerous electrical hazards.

Eight serious safety violations have been noted and $26,000 in penalties proposed against the company for failing to properly maintain catwalks, roof support beams and electrical equipment.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to contest the citations and the proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The site was inspected by staff from OSHA's area office in Tampa, 5807 Breckenridge Parkway, Suite A; telephone 813-626-1177. Employment Safety and Health Guide Daily Document Update ¶20,701a.

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