Articles Posted in Workplace Safety

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The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has recently cited Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co. LLC for 22 alleged serious workplace safety violationsin Somerville´s Inner Belt neighborhood. OSHA additionally proposed $130,800 in fines to the company for these violations.

Inspections carried out between April and October uncovered that employees in the facility’s diesel, carpentry, truck, pipe and coach workshops were exposed to potential electric shocks, fires, falls, chemical burns, lacerations, amputations and bloodborne pathogens, in addition to possible injuries from crushing, slipping and tripping hazards.

OSHA discovered that unqualified employees were working on energized electrical equipment without proper personal protective equipment. Additionally, the facility had numerous exposed electrical circuits, inadequately misused power cords, the lack of locking out electrical power sources during maintenance, incorrect and inadequately secured oxygen and acetylene cylinders in storage, and a blocked emergency exit by a storage unit of flammable materials. Employees were also allowed to work with corrosive chemicals without face masks, hand protection or protective clothing. The facility had unguarded saw blades and unlabeled containers of hazardous chemicals. The company also failed to offer hepatitis B vaccinations to employees who were potentially exposed to bloodborne pathogens while cleaning passenger cars.

OSHA issues a serious violation when there is substantial likelihood that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which “the employer knew or should have known.”

Jeffrey A. Erskine, OSHA’s area director for Middlesex and Essex counties said, “The sizable fines proposed here reflect the number and breadth of hazardous conditions found at this facility…While some violations were corrected during the course of the inspection, the railroad must correct all hazards and take effective steps to prevent their recurrence.”

In a statement following the proposed fines and citations, the company stated: “MBCR treats safety with the utmost seriousness…MBCR has abated or is in the process of addressing all of the issues identified by OSHA. The company will continue to work closely with OSHA and the Federal Railroad Association to ensure the highest possible level of safety for employees and customers.” The statement also said that MBCR has the second lowest rate of injuries in the industry and also that the company had reduced workplace injuries by 58 percent over the past year.

The railroad company has 15 business days to comply, meet with OSHA’s area director or object to the inspection´s findings to the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

If you or your loved one has been injured in the workplace, it is in your best interest to contact an experienced Massachusetts workers’ compensation lawyer.

Sources:

US Labor Department’s OSHA cites Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad for workplace safety hazards at Somerville maintenance facility, OSHA Regional News, November 1, 2011
OSHA: Train yard in Somerville cited for 22 serious safety violations, www.wickedlocal.com, November 2, 2011
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A repairman was rescued after passing out in a 14-foot deep septic pump chamber last Thursday, September 29, in West Bridgewater. The work-related accident happened just outside of a West Bridgewater car repair shop, where the repairman was fixing a broken valve. Although the sequence of events was at first confusing, officials confirmed that Williamson Electric Motor Service employee, Gus Futyma, 51, was repairing the broken valve in the septic pump chamber when he lost consciousness and became trapped. His co-worker, who is also his brother-in-law, said that he had been in the well for approximately ten minutes before complaining that he was having difficulty breathing. He then noticed that Futyma had fainted and immediately called for help.

Futyma was extracted from the hole by emergency medical personnel and was taken to a Brockton hospital, where he spent the night in intensive care. Although he was wearing a full harness that was tethered to a winch, the rescue crew had difficulty hoisting him up and had to cut a pipe to get Futyma out of the hole. West Bridgewater Fire Chief Leonard Hunt said, “Tried to pull him up…but he was a pretty heavy guy…He was unconscious at that point.” Police performed CPR on Futyma until an ambulance arrived.

Bob Tilden, Futyma´s boss and owner of the company, said that his employees continuously train for this type of an emergency. He said, “We never wanted it to happen but we train for it.” The question of why Futyma lost consciousness remains a mystery. Tilden said, “You’re in a confined space. You have no idea what’s down there.” Although Futyma was complaining that he was having difficulty breathing before he passed out and the lack of oxygen is one reason for loss of consciousness, the case continues to be investigated by authorities.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is also investigating the accident to determine exactly how the accident had occurred and whether or not workplace safety standards were violated. OSHA inspections must be completed within 180 days, involve an onsite inspection, interviews of persons involved, review of records, and any necessary testing.

If you or your loved one has been injured in the workplace, it is advised that you contact an experienced Massachusetts workers’ compensation lawyer.

Source:

Repairman OK After Fainting 14 Feet Underground, TheBostonChannel.com, September 30, 2011
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A Beverly dentist, N. Terry Fayad, is being sued by the U.S. Department of Labor for reportedly terminating an employee for raising concerns about needle contamination hazards in the workplace and for filing a complaint with the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The whistleblower, who remains anonymous, filed the complaint in a U.S. district court in Boston by the department’s Office of the Regional Solicitor. Fayad supposedly fired the employee, who was working as a dental assistant, in November 2010. The employee questioned the hazards of an office procedure that required workers to remove protective caps from contaminated needles before putting the needles in a sharps disposal container. Such a procedure puts the employees at risk for injury or could expose them to possible infection by blood-borne pathogens such as hepatitis and HIV. The lawsuit attempts to restore the employee’s standing; payment of lost wages, benefits, interest, and compensatory and punitive damages; and also seeks to stop Fayad from violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act in the future.

Marthe Kent, OSHA’s New England regional administrator, said “No employer should ever treat employees this way…Workers have the right to perform their jobs without being exposed to life-threatening hazards as well as the right to raise concerns when faced with such hazards. The Labor Department will take all appropriate legal steps to ensure these rights are enforced.”

On November 23, 2010, OSHA conducted a separate health inspection of the dental practice and found that the practice was violating numerous safety standards. OSHA fined Fayad´s practice with $26,400 and eight alleged serious violations of the agency´s blood-borne pathogen and hazard communication standards. One of the citations stemmed from the office protocol which required employees to remove the safety cap from contaminated needles. Fayad contested all of the citations and the fine to the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

OSHA protects whistleblowers following the OSH Act along with 20 other statutes protecting employees who report violations in the workplace. Employers are prohibited by law from retaliating against or firing employees who raise concerns about workplace safety or who report such safety concerns.

Massachusetts Law mandates the use of a sharps container for the safe disposal of all needles and maintains strict regulations for health care providers when handling needles in order to prevent sharps injuries.

If you or your loved one has been injured in the workplace, it is advised that you contact an experienced Massachusetts workers’ compensation lawyer.

Sources:

US Labor Department sues Beverly, Mass., dentist for allegedly firing employee who raised concerns about contaminated needle disposal, OSHA Regional News Release, September 21, 2011
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The Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH) has recently conducted an assessment of workplace safety at Angelica Textile Services, operating under the name of Royal Institutional Services, in Somerville, Massachusetts. The investigation was prompted by multiple worker complaints in regards to illnesses, injuries, and long-term health problems due to a dangerous and unhealthy working environment. MassCOSH´s findings were recently published in a >report that was compiled from this recent workplace safety assessment. As reported in OSHA Cites Somerville Commercial Laundry Service After Employee Injury, the company was also cited by the

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Bostik Inc. reported yesterday that they had determined the cause of their plant´s explosion and 4-alarm fire at their adhesive manufacturing plant in Middleton on March 14. They asserted that the explosion which injured four of their workers was due to open valves that let flammable gas permeate throughout the building. In a press release, they reported that “Findings point to a single instance in which two internal valves in an open position appear to have allowed flammable vapors to escape into the building and ignite when exposed to an internal ignition source.”

However, after meeting with Bostik representatives yesterday, state officials and investigators are hesitant to accept this explanation as a definitive cause. State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan said Bostik’s explanation is not an official ruling and that the incident is still being investigated: “Our investigators met with the company and other agencies and were able to obtain additional information…But we are not commenting on nor are we confirming the cause as released by the company…”

The continuing investigation into the cause of the explosion and fire is led by State Fire Marshal Coan´s office and local fire officials. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials are investigating the plant´s workplace safety. OSHA requires such manufacturing companies to have specific procedures to control the accumulation of flammable and combustible material. OSHA also requires the regular maintenance and monitoring of any heat-producing equipment in order to prevent the accidental ignition of flammable material.

Residents nearby the plant complained of an earthquake-like boom due to the explosion and a strong chemical odor in the aftermath. State Fire Marshal Coan confirmed that shortly after the explosion, the haz-mat team had determined that there was no airborne environmental hazard. Local environmental officials were, however, concerned about the possible chemical contamination to the Ipswich River. The location of the plant is situated close to the Middleton, Peabody, and Lynn town lines.

Workplace explosions affect not only the workers but also the residents that surround the workplace facility. Injuries from explosions are not always limited to on the job site workers. When someone is injured on the job they are entitled to workers compensation benefits. These benefits vary depending on the severity of the injury. In addition, if someone happens to be injured on the job and the injury is caused by a third party, that worker may be able to make an additional claim for damages. If you are not sure if you have a third party negligence claim it may be in your best interest to contact a work injury attorney to fully understand your rights.

In addition as in the case above, when there is an explosion on the worksite often times OSHA is called in to see if there were any safety violations in the workplace. While we do not know what OSHA’s findings will be yet on, their findings can impact an injured worker’s injury claim.

If you have been injured in the workplace, it is best advised that you contact an experienced Massachusetts workers’ compensation lawyer.

Sources:

State and company officials discuss Middleton blast, The Boston Globe, May 24, 2011
Bostik Provides Update on the March 13 Incident to Local Agencies, Bostik, Inc., Press Release
Fire Prevention Plans, Standard 1910.39, Occupational Safety and Health Administration
OSHA investigating Middleton plant blast, The Boston Globe, March 16, 2011
4 hurt in blast, fire at factory, The Boston Globe, March 14, 2011 Continue reading

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According to a report released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, teen work injuries remain a major issue for Massachusetts despite a slight decline over the past few decades. The report is a part of the department´s “teens at work” project that tracks teenager hospital room visits and teenager workers´ compensation claims related to work accidents.

John Auerbach, the state’s public health commissioner, said “We’re trying to determine what type of injuries occur so we can prevent them in the future…Sometimes, what’s required is more training; sometimes, educating employers; and sometimes, changing laws.”

According to the report, three Massachusetts teenagers under the age of 18 were killed in the workplace and over 4,000 Massachusetts teenagers went to the hospital with an emergency due to work-related injuries from 2004 to 2008. Although the number of teenager injuries has decreased due to higher unemployment rates, the rate of injuries has only slightly declined since 2000. The injury rate, three out of every 100 teenagers, is twice as high as the injury rate for older employees.

Tish Davis, who manages the Massachusetts health surveillance program, said “What we see in our interviews with injured teens is that they’re often doing exactly what their employers are asking them to do…They want to prove themselves; they don’t want to look foolish by speaking up.”

The findings reveal that employers are not following Federal and state rules and thus not providing a safe working environment for teenagers. Under Federal law, minors must not be put in dangerous work situations. Teenagers under 18 are not allowed to work with or use power-driven meat slicers, wood-working machines, bakery equipment and are completely prohibited from working in coal mines, meat packing plants, and saw mills. Massachusetts law prohibits most jobs, other than babysitting and yard work, for children under the age of 14. However, approximately one-fifth of Massachusetts middle school students admitted to having prohibited jobs in 2009.

If you or your teenager has been injured in the workplace, it is advised that you contact a Massachusetts workers’ compensation lawyer.

Sources:

Teen work injuries in Mass. show only slight decline, The Boston Globe, April 22, 2011
Protecting Working Teens – A Public Health Resource Guide, Massachusetts Office of Health and Human Services

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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has recently released a campaign for a safer working environment for employees who drive while working. Following national awareness and campaigns on the dangers of texting while driving, OSHA is working together with the Department of Transportation and has released a “no-texting while working” brochure and a new informational page on their website directed at employers and workers who drive on the job.

In the brochure, OSHA outlines that employers should ensure the safety of their driving employees by following these recommendations:

• Prohibit workers from texting while driving and declare work vehicles “text-free zones.”
• Establish procedures that do not require employees to text while driving.
• Establish safe procedures, locations, and times for safe communication with managers or customers.
• Train employees on safe communication practices.
• Remove any possible financial incentives or work incentives that would result in employees trying to text while driving on the job.

At a recent symposium focused on eliminating work-related driving distractions, the Symposium on Prevention of Occupationally-Related Distracted Driving, held on April 18 in Laurel, MD, OSHA Assistant Secretary David Michaels spoke on the importance of minimizing the need of employees to text their customers or employers while driving. In an October 2010 letter to employers whose employees work involves driving, he emphasized, “Year after year, the leading cause of worker fatalities is motor vehicle crashes. There’s no question that new communications technologies are helping business work smarter and faster. But getting work done faster does not justify the dramatically increased risk of injury and death that comes with texting while driving.”

Here in Massachusetts, bus drivers are forbidden from using any cellphone; however, there is no statewide-law forbidding cellphone use while driving, only local laws.

If you have been injured in a work-related vehicle accident, contact an experienced Massachusetts workers’ compensation lawyer for legal advice and to find out if are entitled to workers’ compensation.

Source:

Distracted Driving, Occupational Safety and Health Administration Continue reading

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Following the death of a 20-year-old worker in Ohio last September, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has drawn national attention to grain storage facility deaths. After inspecting Gavilon Grain LLC, OSHA charged this company with over forty citations and $465,500 in fines for safety violations at their three Ohio facilities in Morral, West Jefferson and Harpster .

OSHA’s Assistant Secretary of Labor, Dr. David Michaels, explained that this death, in which the employee got caught in a discharge auger when cleaning out a grain bin, should have been avoided: “This tragic death could have been prevented had the grain bin owner and operators followed occupational safety standards and learned from the tragedies that have occurred at other grain bins…Grain elevator owners and operators must implement well-known safety practices to prevent workers from being hurt or killed in a grain bin.” Purdue University researchers report that approximately 25 workers in the U.S. were killed in grain equipment last year and that 2010 saw the highest number of grain deaths since they started collecting this data in 1978.

Because the number of deaths related to grain processing is on the rise, OSHA sent a notification letter in February 2011 to grain storage facility operators warning them of grain equipment safety standards. OSHA explains that entrapment deaths occur due to employer negligence, poor safety practices, and non-compliance with OSHA standards. Michaels said that “OSHA will not tolerate noncompliance with the Grain Handling Facilities standard…We will continue to use our enforcement authority to the fullest extent possible.”

Although grain equipment deaths are not as frequent in Massachusetts as in other farming states, grain equipment can nonetheless pose a threat to workplace safety and employers should always take action for a safer workplace. Since 2009, OSHA has cited and fined numerous other grain operators nationwide in order to prevent further workplace injuries or deaths due to grain equipment.

If you have been injured in the workplace, please do not hesitate to contact one of our experienced Massachusetts Work Injury Lawyers for advice on a case and a free consultation.

Source:

US Labor Department’s OSHA cites Gavilon Grain for willful, other safety violations following death of 20-year-old worker at Morral facility, OSHA National News Release, March 16, 2011 Continue reading

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The Occupational Safety Health Administration has recently updated procedures to help whistleblowers who believe that their employers are not following safety laws in relation to nuclear and environmental safety or security, clean air, safe drinking water, solid waste, and toxic substances. Now consistent with OSHA’s other whistleblower procedures, the new rule also helps workers to bring the violations of their employers to the attention of authorities and helps those who might have difficulty filing a written complaint or filing a complaint in English. The new rule will ultimately help to prevent workplace safety hazards by providing workers easier access to filing complaints.

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, Dr. David Michaels said “Silenced workers are not safe workers…Changes in the whistleblower provisions make good on the promise to stand by those workers who have the courage to come forward when they believe their employer is violating an environmental or nuclear safety law.”

The rule provides final regulations of the employee protection agreement, known as the “whistleblower agreement”, of the original Energy Reorganization Act of 1974. OSHA maintains whistleblower regulations for nuclear and environmental workers and also protects workers who report violations of airlines, commercial carriers, consumer products, financial reform, health care reform, pipelines, public transit, railroads, maritime and securities laws. Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers must provide healthy and safe workplaces for their employees.

For a complete guide to environmental workplace safety standards here in Massachusetts, please visit the Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs website.

If you are a whistleblower and work in an environmentally unsafe workplace or have been injured in the workplace, please do not hesitate to contact one of our experienced lawyers for assistance and a free consultation.

Source:

OSHA publishes final rule establishing procedures for handling nuclear and environmental retaliation complaints, OSHA Trade News Release, March 10, 2011 Continue reading

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Two Massachusetts contractors have been cited for similar trench violations by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration within the past week.

On February 25, 2011, the first contractor cited was A.A. Will Corp., of Stoughton, for willful and repeat violations of workplace trench safety at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Wonderland Station in Revere, where they were installing electrical vaults in the parking lot of the station. Prompted by complaints of an unsafe jobsite, OSHA found workers in a ditch deeper than 5 feet without collapse protection or a ladder, which is a repeat violation for this contractor for a similar situation in February 2010 at a Boston jobsite. The company faces $69,300 in proposed fines.

The second contractor cited, Trainor Construction Co., of Canton, Massachusetts, was cited on February 28, 2011, for willful and serious violations of workplace safety at a jobsite at 270 Centre Street in Boston. Upon the inspection of the jobsite, where Trainor was replacing a water main, OSHA found that a 7-7 1/2 foot trench had inadequate protection against collapse and lacked the needed bracing for an unsupported concrete structure next to the excavation. Furthermore, employees were not wearing reflective vests or bright clothes to protect them from oncoming vehicle traffic. The company faces a total of $29,000 in proposed fines.

OSHA recognizes trenching and excavating as one of the most dangerous aspects of construction because of the risk of cave-ins. Thus, OSHA requires that all trenches deeper than 5 feet need to be guarded and braced for potential collapse. Soil analysis is also important before digging starts. Additional hazards, such as underground power lines or natural gas, also need to be noted. Prior to workers entering the trench, it needs to be inspected by someone who is trained in trench safety. OSHA provides a complete overview of their trench safety requirements on their Trenching and Excavation page.

OSHA’s Area Director for Boston and Southeastern Massachusetts, Brenda Gordon, said, “An unprotected trench can become a prison or a grave in seconds if its walls cave in on workers…Employers should never allow employees into a trench until it has been effectively protected against collapse. Workers’ lives depend on it.”

Our lawyers have over 25 years of experience representing clients who have been injured on the job. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like a free consultation.

Sources:

US Labor Department’s OSHA cites Stoughton, Mass., contractor for failing to provide cave-in protection at Revere, Mass., jobsite, OSHA Regional News Release, February 25, 2011
US Labor Department’s OSHA cites Canton, Mass., contractor for failing to provide cave-in protection at Boston jobsite, OSHA Regional News Release, February 28, 2011 Continue reading

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