Sources: Occupational Safety and Health Administration; CP staff
OSHA has proposed nearly $90,000 in penalties after finding East Orange, N.J.-based County Concrete Corp. exposed workers tasked with mixer cleaning to airborne silica. The agency issued citations for one repeat and two failure-to-abate violations on the heels of a July 2016 inspection, conducted as a follow up to settlement of 2013 citations. The settlement spanned 18 safety and health violations and $153,900 in assessed penalties.
In its most recent action, OSHA cited the repeated violation as County Concrete failed to conduct annual tests to ensure proper fit of respirators for employees. Additional violations involved the company’s failure to a) develop and implement a written respiratory protection program for employees required to wear respirators during concrete mixer cleaning operations; and, b) provide medical evaluations for employees required to wear respirators to determine their ability to use them without their health being compromised.