Illegal activities of Southern Bosses for the week ending on Friday, December 1
— FLORIDA ENDANGERERS —
A federal workplace safety investigation found a South Bay correctional and rehabilitation facility failed to follow recognized safety practices, leaving employees vulnerable to violent attacks and injuries, including one worker who a patient reportedly struck in the face with a rock.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration began an investigation into the incident after the GEO Group Inc., which operates as South Bay Correctional and Rehabilitation Facility, reported the worker’s hospitalization, two days after the incident occurred, which is a violation of OSHA’s rule requiring employers to report an inpatient hospitalization of an employee within 24 hours.
Agency investigators learned an inmate violently attacked a nurse with a rock enclosed in their fist as the nurse held the medical waiting room door open for a wheelchair-bound inmate. As a result of the attack, the nurse suffered a broken nasal bone and cuts on their forehead.
OSHA cited GEO Group for a serious violation for failing to provide a workplace free from recognized safety and health hazards, including inmates’ physical assaults which caused, or were likely to cause, serious physical harm. The agency also issued a citation for an other-than-serious violation for not reporting a workplace incident leading to an employee’s hospitalization within 24 hours, as required. OSHA assessed $26,787 in proposed penalties for the facility’s operator.
“Workplace violence is a serious and alarming concern for healthcare workers who face a much higher risk of attacks than other workers,” said OSHA Area Office Director Condell Eastmond in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “Employers like the GEO Group are aware of the hazards and again failed to protect its employees. As a result, a nurse suffered a brutal and painful attack. The facility must act to protect it workers immediately.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate the rate of nonfatal assaults on hospital workers at 8.3 per 10,000 workers, significantly higher than the rate of 2.0 per 10,000 workers in all private sector industries.
From Dec. 20, 2013, to Jan. 1, 2017, the GEO Group Inc. entered into a corporate-wide settlement regarding workplace violence hazards with OSHA, requiring the company to develop a violence prevention and safety program that involved training employees and creating a workplace safety committee to address violence and patterns in its facility.
The GEO Group Inc. operates 102 facilities with a workforce of 7,500 employees nationwide. The South Bay Correctional and Rehabilitation is a 1,948-bed institution that houses adult males with custody levels ranging from minimum to maximum security, with 357 employees who care for them.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of their citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
— MINER DANGERS —
The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Mine Safety and Health Administration completed impact inspections at 13 mines in 10 states in October 2023, issuing 215 violations.
MSHA began impact inspections after an April 2010 explosion in West Virginia at the Upper Big Branch Mine killed 29 miners.
To date, impact inspections in 2023 have identified 2,307 violations, including 654 significant and substantial or S&S and 46 unwarrantable failure findings. An S&S violation is one reasonably likely to cause a reasonably serious injury or illness. Violations designated as unwarrantable failures occur when an inspector finds aggravated conduct that constitutes more than ordinary negligence.
The agency conducts impact inspections at mines that merit increased agency attention and enforcement due to poor compliance history; previous accidents, injuries, and illnesses; and other compliance concerns. Of the 215 violations MSHA identified in October, 50 were evaluated as S&S and six had unwarrantable failure findings. The agency completed October’s inspections at mines in Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
“The October 2023 impact inspections show miners’ safety and health continues to be put at risk and in ways that are completely preventable,” said Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health Chris Williamson. “We remain troubled and concerned with the continued trend in our impact inspections. This trend include inspectors finding violations that put miners’ lives at risk, such as float coal dust, improper fall protection and a lack of adequate workplace examinations.”
The Longview Mine in Volga, West Virginia, was among the mines MSHA inspected in October. Selected given its history of accidents and inadequate examinations, the mine is operated by Century Mining LLC. The inspection identified 12 violations, including three S&S and four unwarrantable failure findings.
The inspection led the agency to issue an imminent danger order. Specifically, MSHA inspectors found:
Accumulations of float coal dust on two separate conveyor belt lines, resulting in two unwarrantable failure orders.
Inadequate examinations on the same conveyor belt line resulted in two more two unwarrantable failure orders. Inadequate examinations have contributed to serious mine accidents and have been identified as a root cause in several mining fatalities in 2023. MSHA has placed a priority on improving workplace examinations including the identification, correction and documentation of hazardous conditions to ensure miners’ safety and health.
Two miners working for a contractor were observed on a roof 20 feet above ground wearing safety harnesses that were not tied off as required. MSHA issued an imminent danger order and a related S&S citation and withdrew the two miners from the mine. MSHA issued a safety alert in 2023 regarding falls from height and continues to remind operators and contractors on best practices for preventing falls, such as designing an effective fall prevention and protection program as well as providing task training.
“Violations are not just numbers. Each one represent a hazard to miners whose safety, health and lives are being put at risk needlessly. MSHA will continue to enforce the law, while also providing compliance assistance to mine operators, so that the mining industry makes progress in reversing the troubling upward trend in fatalities,” Williamson added.
— GEORGIA KILLERS —
A federal investigation has determined a Cartersville chemical manufacturer could have prevented a 52-year-old leach tank operator from suffering fatal chemical and thermal burns over most of his body in June 2023 by following required safety regulations.
Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined the Chemical Products Corp. employee — on the job just two months — opened an air intake valve to inspect a noise coming from a barium sulfide wash cone with a steam line that was left open the day before. A rush of cold air in the steam line created a bubble that pushed up heated sludge onto the worker, causing fatal burns. A second worker suffered second-degree burns across their upper body.
Before OSHA concluded the investigation, the agency learned that 25 days after the fatal incident, another employee inspecting a leaking gasket under a tank full of sodium hydroxide solution suffered chemical burns when the tank overflowed. The second incident remains under investigation.
“Our investigation found that Chemical Products Corp.’s failure to make employee safety a priority allowed conditions that cost a worker his life,” said OSHA Area Office Director Jeffery Stawowy in Atlanta-West. “Two serious incidents just weeks apart show that the culture at Chemical Products Corp. must change to emphasize worker safety and health. OSHA will continue to monitor and hold the company accountable until there are changes.”
OSHA cited the company for five serious violations after finding the company did the following:
Failed to establish energy control procedures, creating thermal and chemical hazards.
Failed to periodically inspect the energy control procedures, at least annually, while employees were tasked with applying lockout/tagout devices.
Allowed slip and trip hazards to exist by failing to keep mid-tier catwalks free of corrosion.
Exposed employees to entrapment hazards by not clearly marking the routes to emergency exits.
Failed to provide readily accessible safety data sheets for hazardous chemicals in the facility.
OSHA has proposed $55,403 in penalties, an amount set by federal statute.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of their citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
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