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September 2004 Area of Interest: Three New York Construction Contractors Face Over $160,000 - In OSHA Fines Following Fatal Accident at Bronx Construction Site The alleged failure of three construction contractors to provide their employees with protection from falls and other hazards at a Bronx, N.Y., construction site has resulted in more than $160,000 in fines from the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The lack of fall protection led to the death of a worker last February OSHA's investigation, conducted between Feb. 5, 2004, and the end of July by OSHA's Tarrytown, N.Y., office, was in response to the death of a worker who fell 64 feet through an unguarded window opening at an apartment building construction site at 1240 Washington Ave., Bronx, N.Y. As a result of the investigation, OSHA has cited three contractors, MC&O Construction, Inc., of Maspeth, N.Y; Joy Construction Corp., of New York City; and New York Partition and Drywall Corp., of Happauge, N.Y, for alleged serious and willful violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Diana Cortez, OSHA's area director in Tarrytown, reports that MC&O Construction Inc., the employer of the worker killed in the accident, has been cited for four alleged serious violations for failure to train workers with regard to fall protection hazards and failure to guard stairs and landings and to cap protruding metal rebars. These alleged violations carry proposed penalties of $14,000. The company has also been cited for two alleged willful violations, with proposed penalties of $126,000, for failing to guard an elevator shaft and a window wall opening. Joy Construction Corp. was cited for five alleged serious violations, carrying $13,500 in proposed penalties, for failure to guard an elevator shaft, a window wall opening, stairs and landings, and failure to cap protruding metal rebars. New York Partition and Drywall Corp., was cited for five similar alleged serious violations and fined $6,750. Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will publish in tomorrow's Federal Register a final rule establishing procedures for the handling of whistleblower complaints under the Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act of 2002, also known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, one of 14 laws with whistleblower protections administered by OSHA. The law was enacted July 30, 2002, to protect employees in publicly traded companies and their contractors, subcontractors or agents from retaliation for providing information that an employee believes is a violation of a Securities and Exchange Commission rule or other federal law relating to fraud against shareholders. OSHA has received a total of 307 employee complaints filed under the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act since its inception. The rule establishes procedures for the expeditious handling of discrimination complaints made by employees or by persons acting on their behalf. Included in the rule are procedures for submitting complaints under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, investigations and issuing findings and preliminary orders. A major part of the rule details litigation procedures and how one can object to the findings and request a hearing. The final section of the rule discusses miscellaneous provisions including withdrawals of complaints and settlements and judicial review and judicial enforcement. Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Area of Interest: OSHA Forms Partnership to Protect Battery Park Construction Project Workers The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has signed a site-safety and health construction partnership with Turner Construction Company, the Building and Construction Trades Council, the Building Trades Employer Association and the New York State Department of Labor On-Site Consultation Program to eliminate serious hazards and achieve a high level of worker safety and health at the Battery Park City 18 B Project in Manhattan. OSHA Strategic Partnerships for Worker Safety and Health are part of U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao's ongoing efforts to improve the health and safety of workers through cooperative relationships with groups including trade associations, labor organizations and employers. Turner Construction Company is the prime contractor for the construction of a 24-story, 300,175-square foot, residential high-rise on Site 18B at Battery Park City. The structure's "green building" design is unique in that its photo voltaic panels will capture sunlight and convert it to usable energy that will contribute 10 percent of the building's energy source. The project began in June 2004 and will be completed in August 2006. At construction's peak, there will be 29 subcontractors and 300 trades employed at the site. Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Area of Interest: Three Suspects Nabbed in Alleged Multi-State Insurance Fraud Operation Investigators arrested three people Tuesday on numerous felony charges after a 3-year Department of Insurance investigation into a chiropractic office, which uncovered numerous auto insurance and workers' compensation insurance violations, including the fraudulent treatment of a Jack Russell terrier. The arrests follow an investigation of reports of suspected fraudulent claims from numerous insurance companies and private citizens. Investigators from the California Department of Insurance's (CDI's) Organized Auto Fraud Interdiction Task Force were the lead enforcement agency on the case. Other task force members include the California Highway Patrol and the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office. The National Insurance Crime Bureau, the California State Automobile Association and Allied Insurance all provided pretext insurance policies, which are used by undercover investigators for billing by the suspects. Based on observations from undercover officers posing as patients as well as obtaining employment inside the clinic, Baldini and DePaoli Chiropractic allegedly engaged in insurance fraud. During the investigation, one undercover officer even brought in a dog for chiropractic treatment. The dog was indeed treated and the undercover officer's pretext insurance policy was billed as if the officer received the treatment. Source: State of California
Area of Interest: OSHA Proposes $108,500 in Fines Against Turner Egg Farm Operation Follow-up inspections at the former Decoster Egg Farm by the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have resulted in a total of $108,500 in proposed penalties against four successor companies that now run the Turner, Maine, agri-business. The inspections were conducted to verify correction of previously cited hazards. Inspectors found recurrences of fall hazards, unsafe electrical equipment, defective manure trucks and an inadequately labeled jack. Cited for alleged willful, repeat and/or serious violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act were Maine Contract Farming, LLC, which operates the feeder mill, brooder barn system and egg-laying complex; PFS Loading Services, LLC, which transports chickens; Maine Ag, LLC, which packs and grades eggs; and Turner Maintenance and Services, Inc., which performs maintenance. Maine Contract Farming faces $75,700 in fines for three repeat citations for ungrounded, uncovered, unlabeled and unapproved electrical equipment and failing to maintain manure trucks in safe and sanitary condition; as well as two serious citations for excess air pressure in compressed air hoses used for cleaning and failing to ensure the use of seatbelts by manure truck operators. PFS Loading Services Inc. was issued a willful citation, with a $22,000 fine, for failing to provide fall protection for employees loading and lowering chicken cages from atop 12-foot-high semi-trailer roofs. Maine Ag, LLC was fined $6,800 for two repeat citations for ungrounded electrical enclosures and no strain relief for an electric cord, and two serious citations for worn electrical outlets and unprotected electrical conductors. Turner Maintenance and Services, Inc., faces $4,000 in fines for a repeat citation for failing to legibly mark a portable jack with its lifting capacity, and one serious citation for an inadequately supported and equipped kerosene tank. Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Area of Interest: Employer of Workers Killed at a Recent Construction Site Accident Ordered to Stop Work The employer of two workers killed and at least three who were injured last month in a construction accident on a Hobe
Sound work site has been ordered to cease all business operations in Florida. The order was issued after state
investigators with the Department of Financial Services learned the company was operating without required workers' compensation
coverage. Source State of Florida
The U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited the Daytona International Speedway, LLC, for alleged violations of safety standards following the agency's investigation of a worker fatality on Feb. 8, 2004, at the Daytona racetrack. OSHA issued one serious citation to the company with four alleged violations. Proposed penalties total $11,175. OSHA issues a serious citation when there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known. OSHA began its investigation after a speedway worker was struck and killed by a racecar while he was gathering debris from the racetrack. The investigation found that the company failed to enforce industry-recognized safety protocols for entering the track during a race, as outlined in the National Fire Protection Association Handbook. The proposed penalty for this alleged violation is $6,300. Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration
OSHA is inviting comment on its draft Best Practices for Hospital Based First Receivers of Victims from Mass Casualty Incidents Involving the Release of Hazardous Substances . This document is designed to provide hospitals with practical information to assist them in developing and implementing emergency management plans that address the protection of hospital-based emergency department personnel during the receipt of contaminated victims from mass casualty incidents occurring at locations other than the hospital. Among other topics, it covers victim decontamination, personal protective equipment, and employee training, and also includes several informational appendices. To ensure that the widest possible audience has the opportunity to comment, OSHA has posted this final DRAFT on its website for 30 calendar days -- until August 30, 2004. OSHA is interested in public comment regarding this document in order to gain input and insight from employers, employees, employee representatives, and other interested parties. OSHA encourages the public to comment on all aspects of this document. OSHA will consider these comments and will modify the document as the Agency deems appropriate in order to assure that the Best Practices document is a useful product for hospitals and other medical providers. However, OSHA is not required to solicit and consider public comment pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act, and OSHA does not consider the APA's provisions to be implicated by this request for comment. Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration
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