New Jersey transportation company Dana Container faces $437,860 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) penalties for one willful, three repeat, and four serious violations, OSHA announced January 31.
The agency cited Dana for one willful violation because it didn’t properly maintain safety data sheets for chemicals, including corrosives.
Three repeat violations involved chemical container labels that weren’t updated, so workers weren’t made aware of the names of new chemicals; eyewash stations that weren’t properly maintained; and worker medical evaluations that weren’t conducted before respirator use. The agency cited Dana Container in 2019 and 2023 for similar violations.
OSHA issued four serious citations because the company failed to inspect hoists, establish a written hazard communication program, and ensure safety requirements were met while workers used a lifeline fall protection system.
OSHA’s hazard communication standard (29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §1910.1200) is the agency’s most cited general industry standard—second only to its construction industry fall protection standard. Last fall, OSHA cited 3,213 hazard communication violations in fiscal year (FY) 2023.
“Dana Container continues to jeopardize the well-being of its workers by repeatedly disregarding federal safety and health laws and standards,” Paula Dixon-Roderick, OSHA’s Marlton, New Jersey, area office director, said in an agency statement.
Dana Container is a nationwide transportation company whose principal business is leasing transportation equipment and operating tank truck washes, according to OSHA.
Drywall contractor cited in Miami Beach fatality
Stucco Works, Inc., a Homestead, Florida, drywall contractor, faces $74,555 in penalties for 12 serious and two other-than-serious safety violations after a 22-year-old worker suffered a fatal head injury at a Miami Beach residential construction site, OSHA announced January 31.
Agency investigators determined that a scaffold pulley system failed while workers were hoisting buckets of concrete at a Stucco Works Miami Beach worksite. As a result, the hoist arm of the pulley system detached from the scaffold and struck a worker across the head. OSHA cited Stucco Works for its failures to maintain a safe working environment, including:
- Subjecting workers to struck-by hazards from a pulley-hoisting device that wasn’t installed per the manufacturer’s directions;
- Exposing employees to eye and skin irritation while mixing cement and performing stucco work;
- Failing to develop and use a hazard communication program;
- Failing to establish an accident prevention program, subjecting workers to fall and struck-by hazards;
- Allowing workers to use unsafe scaffolding;
- Exposing workers to struck-by hazards and falls of up to 27 feet; and
- Failing to train workers who erected and worked from scaffolding, exposing workers to fall and struck-by hazards.
The agency cited Stucco Works for an other-than-serious violation after determining the company exposed workers to trips and fall hazards while they worked around cluttered materials and debris stored throughout the work area. The employer also failed to maintain OSHA injury and illness records. “Stucco Works’ failure to make employee safety a priority led to the loss of a young worker’s life,” Condell Eastmond, OSHA’s Fort Lauderdale, Florida, area office director, said in a statement.