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OSHA Fines Massachusetts Contractor $60,000 for Silica Hazards
02/25/2005 - A Wilmington, Mass., contractor's failure to safeguard workers against potentially deadly silica hazards during brick repointing work at St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers, Mass., has resulted in $60,000 in proposed fines from OSHA.
On Aug. 17, 2004, employees of NER Construction Management Inc. were repointing Xavier Hall, a grinding operation that produced and engulfed them in clouds of silica-containing brick dust, according to the agency. OSHA standards require that effective engineering controls, such as wet cutting saws, vacuum grinders or other types of local exhaust ventilation first be used to reduce dust levels below permissible exposure limits. No controls were in place or in use at the time, the agency says.
Though the exposed employees wore respirators, those devices alone were insufficient protection. The silica hazard was aggravated by the company's failure to medically evaluate all workers to determine if they could safely use respirators and by its failure to perform fit-testing to ensure that the respirators had a proper seal.
Silica is a human lung carcinogen. Prolonged inhalation can lead to silicosis, a disabling and potentially fatal scarring of the lungs that reduces their ability to take in oxygen.
As a result of prior OSHA inspections, NER knew what safeguards were required, yet did not use them, according to the agency. Thus, OSHA has issued one willful citation to the company, with $55,000 in proposed penalties, for the lack of engineering controls and resulting silica overexposures and for not medically evaluating workers for their fitness to wear respirators. 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.
NER faces an additional $5,000 fine for a serious citation for not performing respirator fit testing. A serious violation is one in which there is a substantial possibility that death or serious physical harm can result to an employee.
NER has 15 business days from receipt of its citations to comply or contest the citations.
- Josh Cable
Chinese workers strike over health issues
Some 5,000 workers from a jewellery factory in Foshan City in China’s southern Guangdong Province went on strike for three days on March 15 and surrounded the plant. They struck after finding out that management had falsified medical examination results hiding the fact that some employees had contracted silicosis.
Suspecting the employer of a cover-up, ten workers had tests at a local hospital and two were found to have the disease, despite having been cleared by a company examination. The outcome prompted a further 212 workers to seek independent tests and 12 were infected. The factory owners fled when the strike erupted.
The workers—who on average work nine hours a day with just one day off every two months—have continuously complained about high temperatures in the plant and the presence of heavy dust, glass and plastic particles from the production process. They say that management refused their requests for basic safety equipment, such as protective clothing or facemasks.
The strikers returned to work after the Health and Labour Bureau agreed to organise medical examinations. By March 19, a further 31 workers were diagnosed with silicosis. Deputy Minister of Health Jiang Zuojun said that at least 580,000 people across the country were suffering from the disease and there were 10,000 new cases every year.
Parties in AngloGold employee case meet to set court date
The respective counsels representing South African gold-miner AngloGold Ashanti and a sick former employee, who is taking legal action against the company for contracting a lung disease while working for the multinational mining firm, will meet this week to finalise a date for the matter to appear in a High Court.
This comes as AngloGold Ashanti, one of South Africa's largest gold producers, had been served a summons in a R2,6-million lawsuit, earlier this week, on behalf of the former employee, who suffers from silicosis contracted while working underground.
Mpumalanga-based human rights attorney Richard Spoor said on Wednesday morning that the case, which could have a “huge impact” on the local mining industry, was likely to appear before the Johannesburg High Court late April or May.
He explained that, under the South African law, a worker could not sue his/her employer for injury sustained at the work place.
“This guarantees the immunity of the mining industry,” Spoor said.
Under the South African law, a compensation commission assumes responsibility for claim payouts to workers or their families for injury or death incurred at the work place. Moreover, mineworkers fall under a different set of rules, which, ultimately, leads to miners receiving less than workers in industries that fall under the general compensation law.
AngloGold Ashanti spokesperson Alan Fine responded that the mining firm was opposing the claim, arguing that it did not have a legal basis to stand on. He added that AngloGold Ashanti was paying money into the national fund assuming responsibility for handling compensation claims.
Spoor also claimed that the South African gold-mining industry was not showing much remorse and criticised the industry for not doing enough to rectify the situation.
“If there was just a little bit of pressure from government, we could change things substantially,” he told a human rights conference in Johannesburg.
Meanwhile, the battle between Spoor, who acts for Limpopo communities locked in conflict with Anglo Platinum and Potgietersrus Platinum mines over their mining activities on tribal land, is set to continue this year.
He said that he would fight Anglo Platinum on four of five different terrains this year, which included litigation cases.
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