Featured This Week

Employment Safety

• OSHA forms new Alliance with Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association
• U.S. Department of Labor files whistleblower suit against Freehold, N.J., construction company
• Con-Way Freight cited for safety violations by OSHA following death of forklift operator at Manchester, N.H., depot

OSHA forms new Alliance with Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association

Employers and employees involved in the manufacturing of kitchen cabinets will benefit from a new Alliance signed today between the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association (KCMA).

Through the Alliance agreement, OSHA and KCMA will work together to provide association members and others with materials, guidance and access to training resources that will help them protect employees' health and safety, especially in reducing and preventing exposure to amputation hazards.

"It is important to educate employees about safety and health hazards in the work environment," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke, Jr. "We are pleased that our new Alliance with KCMA will help us identify and guard against workplace hazards that are likely to cause amputations."

Added Bill Weaver, KCMA president and president of Canyon Creek Cabinet Company: "The Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association is very pleased to formally enter into an Alliance with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to utilize our collective knowledge, experience and expertise to achieve the goal of reducing amputations in the cabinet manufacturing industry. This is an area of mutual concern and through our efforts, we are confident that further progress will be made."

OSHA and KMCA will provide expertise in developing information on the recognition and prevention of amputation injuries and on ways of communicating such information (e.g., print and electronic media, electronic assistance tools, and OSHA's and KCMA's Web sites) to employers and employees in the industry.

Alliance members will promote the national dialogue on workplace safety and health by participating in forums, roundtable discussions, and stakeholder meetings on preventing amputations to help forge innovative solutions to hazards in the workplace.

KCMA is a national trade association that serves and represents kitchen, bath and other residential cabinet manufacturers and suppliers. Employment Safety and Health Guide Daily Document Update ¶20,699a.

U.S. Department of Labor files whistleblower suit against Freehold, N.J., construction company

The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit against Brocon Petroleum Inc. and its president, Richard Kohler, on behalf of an employee who was terminated in violation of the whistleblower provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act. The Freehold construction company specializes in municipal sanitation projects.

The complaint alleges that the defendants terminated the employee in retaliation for the employee engaging in a protected activity. The department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) conducted an inspection of the employer's worksite in response to an anonymous complaint about safety practices at the worksite. The defendants later that day fired the complainant because they believed the complainant had contacted OSHA.

The former employee filed a complaint with OSHA alleging retaliation by the defendants in violation of Section 11(c) of the OSH Act. OSHA investigated the complaint and determined it had merit. After being notified of OSHA's findings, the defendants refused to reinstate the employee to the same or a substantially equivalent position of employment, and to pay back wages or other employment benefits.

"Employees should be free to exercise their rights under the law without fear of termination or retaliation by their employers," said Louis Ricca Jr., OSHA's acting regional administrator in New York. "This lawsuit underscores the Labor Department's commitment to vigorously take action to protect those rights."

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, the complaint seeks to reinstate the employee; secure compensatory damages, lost back pay and punitive damages; and require the company to post a notice in a prominent place for 60 days that explains employee rights under Section 11(c) of the OSH Act. Employment Safety and Health Guide Daily Document Update ¶20,700a.

Con-Way Freight cited for safety violations by OSHA following death of forklift operator at Manchester, N.H., depot

OSHA has proposed a total of $119,500 in fines against Con-Way Freight Inc., an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based delivery carrier, for alleged willful, repeat and serious safety violations following an inspection at the company's Manchester, N.H., service center.

The inspection was prompted by an Oct. 3, 2007, accident in which a Con-Way Freight employee died when he was crushed beneath the forklift he was operating after it went off the edge of a loading dock. OSHA's inspection found that the employee had not been using the forklift's seatbelt, and the company had not trained him and other forklift operators to follow the manufacturer's guideline that seatbelts be used during operation.

"Manufacturer guidelines require the use of seatbelts, and OSHA's powered industrial truck standard mandates that employers train their forklift operators to follow those guidelines," said Francis Pagliuca, OSHA's acting area director for New Hampshire. "Con-Way Freight repeatedly has refused to require forklift operators to use seatbelts even though another employee died in a similar accident in Dallas in 2003. This practice must change, or employees nationwide continually will remain exposed to the dangers of fatal or disabling injuries."

For the lack of training, OSHA issued Con-Way Freight one willful citation, with the maximum proposed fine of $70,000. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health. The company also was issued one repeat citation, with a $35,000 fine, for allowing the forklift to be operated in a defective condition. OSHA cited the company's Bridgeview, Ill., facility for a similar hazard in May 2007.

In addition, OSHA issued three serious citations, with $14,500 in fines, for the lack of seatbelt use, not having the forklift maintain a safe distance from the edges of the loading dock, and not marking aisles and passageways for forklift use. OSHA defines a serious violation as a condition that exists where there is a substantial possibility that death or serious physical harm can result.

Detailed information about OSHA's powered industrial truck requirements is available online at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/poweredindustrialtrucks/index.html.

Con-Way Freight has 15 business days from receipt of its citations to contest them before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The inspection was conducted by OSHA's Concord Area Office (telephone 603-225-1629). Employment Safety and Health Guide Daily Document Update ¶20,719a.

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