62 violations of same standard since 1998; now $186K in new fines

August 17, 2012 by Fred Hosier

Posted in: Compliance, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, OSHA news, Respiratory safety, Who Got Fined and Why?

A New Hampshire company has been cited 62 times for violations of OSHA’s lead standard since 1998. Now it faces $185,900 in additional fines for, you guessed it, new violations of the lead standard.

OSHA has cited Franklin Non-Ferrous Foundry with four willful and serious violations involving a failure to protect workers from exposure to lead.

The citations are the result of an inspection in January to verify abatement of hazards cited by OSHA in 2009.

The most recent inspection found two employees exposed to excessive levels of lead during foundry operations and a lack of sufficient engineering control to reduce lead exposure levels. The company also failed to conduct additional lead exposure monitoring when alloys with higher lead content were used and the ventilation system wasn’t working. OSHA says the company also failed to regularly measure the ventilation system to gauge its effectiveness in controlling lead exposure, and respirators weren’t used when required.

These conditions resulted in three willful violations totaling $181,500.

A $4,000 serious citation was issued for employee overexposure to airborne copper fumes.

OSHA has placed Franklin in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which mandates follow-up inspections.

The company has 15 work days from receiving the citations to decide whether to contest them.

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Tags: lead exposure, lead exposure monitoring, Severe Violator Enforcement Program, willful violations

paduke

Oh forgott to slam OSHA!! What were they doing for those 14 years?? Head in the sand????
paduke

It’s just good business to pay the fines rather than protect your employees. It costs way less to pay the fine and workers compensation than put the proper equipment in place to protect the employees. I wonder what they made in those 14 years as apposed to what they paid out in fines and insurance premiums??? They aren’t in business becuase they are stupid!!!!
VJ

62 violations over a 14 year span. New fines at $186K. I wonder what the total is altogether? This company seems okay with paying fines rather than fixing the issues. I googled the business and see they have 4 employees, so it is a very small company. You would think that a fine that big would get their attention.
Jason B

And that is why this company has been placed in the SVEP. There has been a lot of calls for the abolishment of OSHA and their “job-killing” regulations due to it being an election year.

My point was that employers like this are always going to exist and imagine how many more there would be if OSHA wasn’t in existence at all. While citations may not motivate this company to do the right thing, it seems to work for most.

Just my opinion.
Guest

“It is employers like this that justifies OSHA’s existence!”

How so? OSHA has continually found the same issues over and over again at this facility. It would seem to me that if OSHA were effective at improving safety they would not find these issues on repeat visits.

OSHA’s goal is supposed to be to protect workers. If they can’t do that after 14 years I think it is safe to say that they are failing.
Jason B

It is employers like this that justifies OSHA’s existence! Hard to call for the abolishment of OSHA when you have employers repeatedly exposing their workers to recognized hazards.