In addition, the company faces fines for three serious violations relating to poor egress procedures from the trench, failure to provide proper training for trench operations, and placing excavated materials too close to the edge of the trench.
OSHA cited the company with one willful violation for failing to provide an adequate protective system for employees working in an excavation 8 to 10 feet in depth and one serious violation for failing to ensure employees were wearing high visibility vests.
According to the investigation, the worker was covered by almost 240-degree asphalt released from an open valve on the transfer system due to a pressure increase that separated the transfer hose from the system.
Proposed penalties against the two companies total more than $97,000. John Healy, OSHA's area director in Englewood, Colo., said the agency "will be stepping up its enforcement of fall hazards, especially in those areas of the state that experienced significant hail damage this year--areas where we expect to see an influx in roofing work."
"There can be no delay in exiting a workplace during a fire or other emergency when the difference between escape and injury or death can be measured in seconds," said Kay Gee, OSHA's acting area director in Manhattan.
The site's lack of eyewash or shower stations near where employees were exposed to corrosive materials were among the 10 serious health violations for which OSHA cited the Georgia company.
"The procedures for protecting trench workers are easy enough to implement, but what's required first is employer and employee dedication to workplace safety and health," said Greg Baxter, OSHA's regional administrator in Denver.
The new IPAF safety video uses scenarios extracted from its popular operator training course, which is used to train about 80,000 people per year.
A follow-up OSHA visit found uninspected overhead cranes; uninspected lifting hooks; defective and unmarked lifting slings; unguarded live electrical parts; damaged electrode holders and insulation; incorrectly stored compressed gas cylinders; unmarked and unchecked fire extinguishers; and slipping hazards from an oil spill in a work area.
"OSHA has inspected this company on five occasions going back to 1997, resulting in numerous violations, including many we found again on this most recent inspection," said OSHA Area Director Kathy Webb, North Aurora, Ill.
"One wrong step can end a worker's career or life," said Kay Gee, OSHA's acting area director in Manhattan. "We want to emphasize to all contractors the importance of supplying effective fall protection safeguards and training to their workers."
The intensive weeklong event, Feb. 14-20, will include more than 50 seminars ranging from one to three days in length on all manner of safety and health topics.
An agency inspection identified dozens of instances throughout the plant where workers were exposed to possible lacerations, amputation, and crushing injuries from unguarded moving parts of mechanical power presses and other machinery as well as a lack of specific procedures to prevent the accidental startup of numerous machines during set-up, maintenance, and repair.
A paper published in the September issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found households in which someone with a transportation-related disability lives have spent more time packing necessary supplies and identifying a safe place to meet, but they’ve done no more to become aware of evacuation routes or to create an emergency plan.
Although BLS' preliminary total of 5,071 deaths in 2008 means the fatal injury rate for U.S. workers dropped to 3.6 per 100,000 from the previous year's 4.0, celebration may be premature: Delayed processing by state agencies may bump the totals more than in past years, BLS said.
"There is an endless possibility of things that could have gone wrong here," said Petty Officer 2nd Class John Brooks, a boat coxswain at Coast Guard Station Gloucester. "But most likely they could have been run over by their own boats or their vessels could have collided with other mariners."
The repeat violations contributing to the proposed penalties totaling $144,900 included failing to provide guardrails on scaffolds at different working levels, provide access ladders and toe boards, and ensure all working levels were fully planked.
OSHA has cited Amer Industrial Technologies Inc. for alleged safety and health violations, proposing $63,750 in penalties.
ASTM F1637-09, Standard Practice for Safe Walking Surfaces, addresses the design, construction and minimum maintenance criteria for floors, walkway surfaces, sidewalks, short-flight stairs, gratings, wheel stops, and speed bumps of new and existing buildings.
Safety authorities around the world, working together in some cases, have focused recently on health issues, construction falls, hospital-associated infections, and aviation safety.