Criminal contempt for refusing safety inspection....

Government safety organizations are sanctioned to assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance. Onsite inspections in many regions are “conducted without advance notice”. Here is a recent story where an owner did not allow the inspectors access to his plant:

A federal judge in the United States has found the owner of an aluminium foundry in criminal contempt of court for refusing to allow a federal inspection required after a worker was found to have high blood lead levels, the U.S. Department of Labor said.

The owner of the foundry was found in criminal contempt after resisting a recent court order to cooperate with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which was responding to a report of an elevated blood lead level in a foundry employee, the Labor Department said during the May 17, 2015.

The owner and representatives from a consulting firm, which worked with the foundry on safety compliance issues, were ordered to pay over € 10,000 together to reimburse the department. They were also fined about for failing to cooperate, and three consultants also had to pay over €1,500 fines for refusing to comply with the warrant for the inspection.

“We believe it’s really the first time in OSHA history that a company was found in criminal contempt for not allowing OSHA inspectors to inspect after a judge’s order,” Labor Department spokesman said in an email.

OSHA tried to inspect the foundry in March after state health officials notified the agency that a recent test showed that a foundry employee had high levels of lead in his blood. Excessive lead in the blood can cause serious health problems, including anemia and damage to the brain and kidneys, according to the department.

The department said after foundry owner refused to allow the OSHA inspectors in, inspectors returned with a warrant to complete the inspection and were once again refused entry. Once OSHA initiated court proceedings, the agency inspectors were able to complete the inspection, which OSHA spokesman said is ongoing.

The foundry owner denied preventing OSHA from inspecting the foundry, and said recently that it was his blood that had been shown to have excessive lead. He said he told the OSHA inspectors the high level was his own, and that he felt the elevated level was from regularly handling shotgun shells, and not from the foundry, which makes brass and aluminum castings.

“I think they overreacted,” foundry owner said. He said he was also cited in a few years ago for contaminated air at the foundry, but he took steps to fix that problem. The foundry owner said he has also since changed to a no-lead brass at the foundry.

The safety consultants who assisted the foundry could not be reached for comment.

More than 50,000 U.S. workers die from occupational exposure to lead, asbestos and other substances, OSHA said in a release.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog is unaware of the full story of what occurred when the OSHA inspector(s) arrived at the aluminium foundry. But we are confident to state that the owner should have allowed the inspectors onsite and assisted them as they are required by law. There is no doubt that the owner’s initial refusal to allow the inspectors entry and subsequent refusal have made a bad situation worse.

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