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Showing posts with label lead contamination. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lead contamination. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

SCOTUS Upholds California Supreme Court: Lead Paint Manufacturers Liable for Over $400 Million

The US Supreme Court declined to review a California Supreme Court decision holding multiple lead paint manufacturers responsible for cleanup costs amounting to over $400 million. The longstanding litigation was brought under the theory that lead paint contamination was a public nuisance. Lead paint has been known for decades as toxic.

Friday, May 27, 2016

Ohio gun shop's lead, respiratory hazards endanger workers - FIned $195K

Federal safety and health investigators found that employees of an Ohio gun shop may face life-long health damage because their employer continues to expose them tolead hazards and has failed to establish a respiratory protection program.

Friday, May 11, 2012

OSHA Proposes Fines for NJ Uniform & Laundry Company

The U.S. Department of Labor has cited Wilmington, Mass.-based UniFirst Corp., a uniform and laundry service, for seven serious safety and health violations, including some involving bloodborne pathogen and lead exposure hazards, at its West Caldwell facility. A complaint alleging hazards prompted OSHA's inspection. Proposed penalties total $186,000.

"The violations at this facility compromise the safety and health of UniFirst's workers," said Kris Hoffman, director of OSHA's Parsippany Area Office, which conducted the inspection. "It is vital that the company take appropriate steps to eliminate all identified hazards."

Three willful violations involve a failure to conduct proper training and provide hepatitis B vaccinations, as well as to have engineering and work practice controls in place to eliminate or minimize exposure to bloodborne pathogens. 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. The citations carry $165,000 in penalties.

Four serious violations involve a locked emergency door, a lack of training on fire extinguisher use, lead-contaminated surfaces, inadequate training on OSHA's lead standard and not providing gloves to workers exposed to potentially contaminated clothing. 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. The citations carry $21,000 in penalties.

"A first step toward a safer, healthier workplace is to develop and implement an illness and injury prevention program in which management and workers proactively identify and eliminate hazardous conditions," said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional director in New York.

The citations can be viewed at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/UnifirstCorporation_315956458_04_12.pdf*.

UniFirst Corp., which employs 35 workers at the West Caldwell facility, has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or contest the citations and proposed penalties 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 Parsippany office at 973-263-1003.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, OSHA's role is to promote safe and healthful working conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, outreach and education. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.