OSHA has proposed penalties of $100,000 or more for the following recent alleged failures to protect workers from potential hazards, including many that could have been avoided or mitigated by personal protective equipment (PPE). Companies have 15 business days from receipt of citations and fines to request and participate in informal conferences with OSHA or to contest the citations before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission:
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Bovis Lend Lease, New York, and John Galt Corp., Chicago, $465,000, for fire safety, exit access and other hazards uncovered by an inspection at the former Deutsche Bank headquarters in New York, N.Y. The two contractors responsible for demolition and asbestos abatement on the building were cited following an Aug. 18, 2007, fire that took the lives of two New York City firefighters. Bovis faces a fine of $193,000, and Galt, $271,500.
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Gen-Cap Industries Inc., $382,500 for 76 violations at its Bronx, N.Y., plant, which makes fireproof doors. Citations included no hearing conservation program, failure to enforce use of PPE and defective respirators.
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Gilco Contracting Inc., Tuscaloosa, Ala., $328,500 for 13 violations after inspectors visited three Alabama jobsites in August and November 2007; $315,000 of the total was levied for failing to follow rules regarding worker protection in trenching and excavating operations.
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Balfour Beatty Construction LLC, based in the United Kingdom, and C.F. Jordan LP, El Paso, Texas, $324,000 for 12 asbestos exposure violations, including failure to provide protective clothing during housing construction at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
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Metroplex Masonry Inc., Kaufman, Texas, $210,000 for failure to protect employees from hazards including falls at a North Richland Hills worksite.
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Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel Corp., $210,000 for violations at its operation in Steubenville, Ohio; citations included failure to provide PPE and training.
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Barletta Heavy Division Inc., Canton, Mass., and Erie Interstate Contractors, Lancaster, N.Y., $200,000 for exposing employees to falls at a pier worksite in Boston.
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Herrera's Construction, Pelham, Ala., $195,200 for 21 safety violations discovered at jobsites in Birmingham and Calera, Ala.; citations included failure to address fall protection and allowing employees to work without PPE.
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Mantrose-Haeuser Co. Inc., $192,000 for 29 violations at its industrial and pharmaceutical food coatings plant in Attleboro, Mass.; citations included fall and confined space hazards and deficiencies in respirator training and fitting.
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Murphy Oil USA Inc., which agreed to pay $179,100 in fines and to take corrective action after workplace safety violations were found at the company's Superior, Wis., refinery.
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Quality Roofing Systems Inc., West Haven, Conn., $173,000 for failure to supply employees with fall protection at a Farmington, Conn., worksite.
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CITGO Petroleum Corp., $169,000 for failing to protect employees against hazardous working conditions at its Lake Charles, La., refinery.
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Concrete Express Inc., Denver, $166,000 for unsafe working conditions following a partial collapse of a concrete floor on a condominium project in Greenwood Village, Colo.
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Atlas Health Care Linen Services LLC, $163,200 for uncorrected and other health and safety violations uncovered at its Watertown, N.Y., facility.
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CITGO Petroleum Corp., which has agreed to pay $155,250 and take corrective action after an OSHA inspection at the company's Lemont, Ill., refinery.
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John Carlo Inc., Naples, Fla., $155,000 for willful and serious violations found during an inspection of a company construction site in Naples.
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Frontier El Dorado Refining Co., $153,500 for 19 safety and health violations at its El Dorado, Kan., refinery.
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A. Finkl & Sons, $140,000 for willful violations found during an inspection at the Chicago metal forger.
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Midlands Contracting Inc., Kearney, Neb., $140,000 for violations following a worker fatality at a Kearney excavation worksite.
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Wheelblast Inc., $139,500 after an inspection uncovered safety and health violations at the company's Zephyrhills, Fla., manufacturing plant.
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Green Bay Packaging Inc., Green Bay, Wis., $132,000 for failure to protect employees from hazards at the company's Arkansas Kraft Division, Morrilton.
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Crossroads Cooperative Association, $130,050 for violations at the grain-handling cooperative in Sidney, Neb.; OSHA inspected after an employee received fatal injuries when engulfed by millet grain.
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T&T Masonry, $129,000 for violations, including lack of fall protection, after an employee complained about hazards at a Lowe's home improvement center construction site in Whitehall, Pa.
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TECO-Westinghouse Motor Co., Round Rock, Texas, $118,350 following a fatality at the facility in July 2007; violations included inadequate PPE.
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Fields Excavating Inc., Kitts Hill, Ohio, $117,000 after an inspection found that the company failed to provide cave-in protection.
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Steris Isomedix Services Inc., $117,000 for repeat and serious violations at the company's medical devices sterilization operation in Waukegan, Ill.
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TDY Industries Inc., La Vergne, Tenn., $113,000 for 27 violations that endangered employees at the company's tungsten carbide products plant in Gurley, Ala.
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N SKY Construction LLC, $110,600 for multiple citations after an employee fell 29 floors to his death at a company worksite in Seabrook, Texas.
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Miranda Construction Co., Fall River, Mass., $109,000 for fall hazards at a Newport, R.I., residential construction site.
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M-D Building Products, $107,500 for violations following an amputation at the company's Oklahoma City plant, which makes decorative molding and weather-proofing products.
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King Construction Co. LLC, New Holland, Pa., $101,000 for violations, including fall hazards, at a Conestoga, Pa., construction site.