Workplace Safety Press Releases

Syracuse, New York, Concrete Products Manufacturer Faces $76,500 in U.S. Labor Department OSHA Fines for Repeat and Serious Hazards—01/24/2008

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Cranesville Block Co.'s Clark Division for 11 alleged serious and repeat violations of safety and health standards at its Syracuse concrete products manufacturing plant. The company faces a total of $76,500 in proposed fines following OSHA inspections prompted by an employee complaint.

“These citations address a cross-section of hazards associated with concrete products manufacturing, including some for which the company had been cited in the past,” said Christopher Adams, OSHA's area director in Syracuse. “Left uncorrected, these conditions expose employees to the potential dangers of lacerations, crushing, amputation, suffocation, falls, hearing loss and lung disease.”

OSHA issued Cranesville Block eight serious citations, with $26,500 in proposed fines, for employee overexposure to silica; failure to provide required confined space, respiratory protection and hazard communication training to employees; lack of a hearing conservation program for employees exposed to high noise levels; missing railings on stairways; and failure to provide stop blocks for parked trucks.

Three repeat citations, carrying $50,000 in proposed fines, were issued for not establishing and implementing specific procedures for locking out machines' power sources to prevent their startup during maintenance; not performing medical evaluations and fit-testing for employees using respirators; and failure to identify confined spaces in which employees would work. OSHA had cited Cranesville Block for substantially similar hazards in 2004 and 2005 at company plants in Amsterdam and Albany, N.Y.

OSHA issues a serious citation when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known. A repeat citation is issued when an employer has been cited previously for a substantially similar condition and the citation has become final.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations to request and participate in an informal conference with OSHA or to contest them before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The investigation was conducted by OSHA's Syracuse Area Office, 3300 Vickery Road, North Syracuse, N.Y.; telephone 315-451-0808.

Occupational Safey and Health Administration. "Syracuse, N.Y., concrete products manufacturer faces $76,500 in U.S. Labor Department OSHA fines for repeat and serious hazards." [http://osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=14915]. 01/24/2008.