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January 2005

State: New York

Area of Interest: Long Island Contractor with History of Violations Faces $119,000 in OSHA Fines for Latest Workplace Hazards

A Mt. Sinai stucco contractor's continued failure to protect workers against falls and other potentially fatal construction hazards at several Long Island jobsites has resulted in $119,000 in proposed fines from the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

OSHA has cited Conti & Carlucci Construction, Inc. for a total of seven alleged willful and serious violations of workplace safety standards following an inspection opened June 3 at a construction site located at 150 Main St. in Patchogue. Employees at the jobsite were found to be working on 12-foot high scaffolding without fall protection.

OSHA's inspection found workers at the Patchogue jobsite exposed to fall hazards stemming from the company's failure to fully plank scaffolding; the lack of guardrails along the scaffold's open sides; employees climbing frames and cross bracing to access the scaffold because ladders or other safe means of access were missing; and the company's failure to train workers to recognize and avoid such hazards. In addition, the company failed to provide workers with helmets to protect them against falling objects.

OSHA has cited Conti & Carlucci four times in the past two years for the same or similar hazards at jobsites in Valley Stream, Carle Place, Levittown and West Babylon. As a result, these latest citations have been classified as willful and $116,000 in fines proposed for them. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with an intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and regulations.

The company was also issued two serious citations and fined $3,000 for failing to use base plates and cross-braces to support the scaffolding. OSHA defines a serious violation as a condition where there is a substantial possibility that death or serious physical harm can result to an employee.

Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Area of Interest: U.S. Labor Department Publishes Youth Employment Rules
Rules Become Effective in 60 Days

The Labor Department published today in the Federal Register final regulations implementing changes to employment rules for youth. The new rules expand protections for youth working in restaurant cooking, roofing, and driving, among other changes.

The rules incorporate into the regulations the provisions of two statutory amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act that deal with driving and the operation of compactors and balers by teenage employees. The first statutory change established criteria permitting 16 and 17-year-olds to load, but not operate or unload, certain waste-material baling and compacting equipment. The second statutory change delineated what limited on-the-job driving may be performed by qualified 17-year-olds.

Provisions are also included to modernize the youth employment provisions regarding what types of cooking 14- and 15-year olds are permitted to perform. The new rules now permit those minors to clean and maintain cooking devices in some situations.

The rules published today also expand the current prohibition against youth under age 18 working in roofing occupations to encompass all work on or about a roof, including work performed upon or in close proximity to a roof. Under the new provisions, youth may only perform such work if in an apprenticeship or student-learner program.

Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration

State: New York

Area of Interest: Insurance Department Will Approve 6 Percent Auto Rate Reduction for Geico Customers Decreases Are Seen as Further Evidence of Fraud-Fighting Progress

Superintendent of Insurance Gregory V. Serio today announced that GEICO auto insurance customers in New York State will see an across-the-board rate reduction in 2005 resulting in a savings of 6 percent for a typical policyholder. GEICO’s decision will save existing private passenger vehicle policyholders more than $100 million.

GEICO has more than 950,000 private passenger vehicle policyholders in New York State, which translates into about 15 percent of the state’s total market share as of December 2004.

Superintendent Serio last month asked GEICO and 12 other auto insurance carriers cumulatively serving more than 60 percent of the state’s drivers to meet with him to discuss possible rate reductions in light of industry data indicating that losses had dropped substantially between 2002 and the third quarter of 2004.

Source: State of New York

State: California

Area of Interest: Los Angeles Business Owner Sentenced to Pay $1.8 Million in Fines and Restitution and Place on Five Years Probation After Conviction on Felony Workers’ Compensation Fraud

Picture framing business defrauded major insurers with complex fraud scheme that helped owner underreport wages at the firm by $7 million

A Los Angeles business owner was sentenced to pay $1.8 million in restitution and penalties this week after a three-year joint investigation involving the California Department of Insurance found he had underreported wages at his picture framing operation by some $7 million.

Randy Greenberg, 46, of Los Angeles, was sentenced in Los Angeles County Superior Court on November 29 to a two year suspended state prison term, and placed on five years probation on two felony counts of workers’ compensation fraud.

The case was prosecuted by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office Workers’ Compensation Insurance Fraud Division, working jointly with the California Department of Insurance. The Department received assistance from the State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF) and American International Group (AIG), Internal Audit Support Group.

CDI investigators discovered that Greenberg and his picture framing business, KBST, Inc. were defrauding State Compensation Insurance Fund and AIG from 1998 to 2001. Greenberg’s schemes used shell corporations, fraudulent workers’ compensation applications, underreporting of payroll and manipulation of employee job classifications codes to hide some $7 million in wages.

Greenberg was ordered to pay $677,693 in restitution to SCIF, $276,413 to AIG, and $863, 000 to the Workers’ Compensation Fraud Assessment Commission for the cost of the investigation.

Source: State of California

State: New Jersey

Area of Interest: OSHA Cites Southern New Jersey Company for
Safety and Health Hazards Involving Noise

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Pallet Logistics Management Services, Inc. for alleged safety and health violations identified at both its Vineland and Swedesboro, N.J. facilities. The company, which refurbishes and sells pallets to companies throughout the state, employs 47 workers.

OSHA initiated its investigation on June 4, in response to a complaint alleging that employees at the Vineland site were exposed to excessive levels of carbon monoxide from forklifts. While the inspection did not support the complaint, OSHA found that noise levels at both the Vineland and Swedesboro plants were excessive and considered hazardous.

Citations were issued to the company for four alleged willful violations, with a penalty of $150,000; 14 alleged serious violations, with a penalty of $27,750; a failure to abate notice, with a penalty of $9,375; and two other-than-serious violations.

The willful citations address the company's failure to guard machinery and to properly test for noise exposure levels. The serious citations include: noise hazards, lack of forklift training, an inadequate lockout/tagout program to prevent inadvertent machine start-ups, and lack of machine guarding. The failure to abate notice was issued for failure to correct previously-cited deficiencies in training and safety procedures.

Willful violations are those committed with an intentional disregard or plain indifference to the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. A serious citation is issued when death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration

State: California

Area Of Interest: Sacramento Mother Arrested Tuesday In “Stuffed Passenger” Auto Insurance Accident Case

Suspect charged with four felony counts of insurance fraud and picked-up on two outstanding misdemeanor warrants for petty theft and check kiting

Ebony Kirk, 25, of Sacramento, was arrested today and booked into the Sacramento County Jail for falsely reporting herself as a passenger in an auto accident occurring on August 19, 2003. She was charged with four felony counts of insurance fraud and could face up to five years in state prison and a maximum fine of $150,000. Bail was set at $5,000 for Ms. Kirk, the mother of a 6-year-old.

The case, being prosecuted by the Sacramento County District Attorney’s office, was investigated by the California Department of Insurance Fraud Division (CDI) as part of an ongoing statewide investigation of insurance fraud and false insurance claims filing.

Ebony Kirk reported to 21st Century Insurance that she had received injuries resulting from the accident and began treatment with a doctor. Her insurance company later settled Kirk’s claim paying her $2,400 in medical benefits. After further investigation, Kirk admitted in a recorded statement to fraud investigators that she was a “stuffed passenger,” a fictitious passenger in the vehicle at the time of the accident.

Source: State of California

Area of Interest: OSHA Offers Best Practices for Hospitals Receiving
Victims of Mass Casualties

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today released information to help hospitals safeguard their own employees as they care for patients injured in incidents involving chemical, biological or radiological materials.

Entitled OSHA Best Practices for Hospital-Based First Receivers of Victims from Mass Casualty Incidents Involving the Release of Hazardous Substances , the document is available on OSHA's Web site and offers useful information to help hospitals create emergency plans based on worst-case scenarios. It focuses on suggestions for appropriate training and suitable personal protective equipment for healthcare employees who may be exposed to hazardous substances when they treat victims of mass casualties. The document includes appendices with practical examples of decontamination procedures and medical monitoring for first receivers who respond to a mass casualty incident.

To develop the guidance, OSHA drew upon the best practices of hospitals of varying sizes and with differing risk levels and conducted an extensive literature search. The agency also placed a draft on its Web site during August 2004 and solicited additional stakeholder input.

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) requires hospitals to develop plans to respond to both natural and manmade emergencies. Depending on their roles, some hospital employees also may be covered by OSHA's hazardous waste operations and emergency response standard. Following the guidance in the document will enable hospitals to fulfill these responsibilities.

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