Illegal activities of Southern Bosses for the weeks between Friday, November 1, and Friday, November 8
Florida Killers
A U.S. Department of Labor investigation found two contractors could have prevented a crane collapse at a Fort Lauderdale residential construction site in April 2024, which caused a 27-year-old rigger to suffer fatal injuries after falling approximately 30 stories.
Investigators with the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration learned that two workers employed by Phoenix Rigging & Erecting LLC were installing a section on a tower crane to increase its height when a support cable failed and the platform on which they stood became displaced. One worker, who was wearing the required fall protection and tied off, was rescued. Another worker, whose lanyard was not connected to an anchor point was fatally injured.
OSHA cited Phoenix Rigging & Erecting in Mableton, Georgia, for three serious violations for failing to do the following:
- Identifying and replacing or otherwise repair corroded and cracked pins or bolts designed to secure the crane’s climbing frame and apply end connections properly.
- Ensuring the use of fall protection equipment.
- Conducting pre-inspections of crane components before allowing employees to start work, and ensure cranes were inspected properly by a qualified person for damage or excessive wear.
The agency also cited a Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, crane rental company, Maxim Crane Works LP, for two serious violations for failing to do the following:
- Observing deficiencies to significantly corroded and cracked pins and bolts, and improperly applying end connections.
- Allowing employees to start work without conducting pre-inspections of crane components, including but not limited to U-bolt clamps, bolts, pins, thimbles and wire ropes, to ensure those were inspected adequately by a qualified person for damage or excessive wear.
OSHA cited the construction contractors for five serious violations and proposed $61,299 in penalties, the maximum amount that OSHA can legally recommend.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 1,056 construction workers were fatally injured on the job in 2022, with 423 of those fatalities related to falls from elevation, slips or trips.
Missouri Killers
A Missouri grain cooperative could have prevented an employee’s fatal engulfment in a storage bin in May 2024 had it followed federal workplace safety requirements, the U.S. Department of Labor determined.
Responding to the employer’s report of a worker fatality, investigators with the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration learned that three employees of MFA Inc., operating as MFA Rail Car, were removing corn screenings – comprised of clumps of corn dust – from a bin at the company’s Hamilton facility. One worker entered the bin to clear screenings and became engulfed when the screenings shifted. Another worker tried to rescue his co-worker but was engulfed to his waist before being rescued by first responders from the local fire department.
OSHA found the Columbia grain cooperative had not completed a required bin entry permit before allowing the worker inside. Additionally, the conveyor was running with the bin’s bottom gate open, increasing the risk of product shifting and the risk of engulfment. The employer also lacked adequate rescue equipment, failed to ensure the worker wore a harness and lifeline and did not follow other required safety procedures before entering the bin.
Following its inspection, OSHA cited MFA Inc. for one willful violation and five serious violations and proposed penalties of $241,887. Specifically, the agency identified the following safety failures:
- Lacking adequate rescue equipment on site when workers entered bins.
- Failing to protect employees from falls on walking working surfaces.
- Not verifying that mechanical, electrical, hydraulic and pneumatic equipment inside grain storage structures were deenergized, locked out and tagged to prevent operation when workers entered.
- Allowing workers to enter a bin without completing the permit process.
- Not testing the bin’s atmosphere before workers entered.
- Not providing a harness and lifeline positioned to prevent the employee from sinking deeper than waist-deep in the grain.
Louisiana Polluters
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) settled cases of alleged Clean Air Act violations at three facilities in Southern Louisiana as part of the agency’s focus on achieving results in communities with environmental justice concerns. The cases involve alleged unauthorized emissions of chemicals; violations of startup/shutdown/ malfunction requirements; and other requirements of the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants.
The violations were found at DuPont Pontchartrain Works petrochemical facility in LaPlace; Vopak, Inc., in Hahnville; and Westlake Chemical (formerly Axiall) in Lake Charles. Inspections at these facilities were part of the Pollution Accountability Team, a special enforcement project developed as a follow-up to Administrator Michael S. Regan’s Journey to Justice tour in Louisiana. Inspection reports for these cases are available here.
The DuPont settlement assesses a civil penalty of $480,000 and addresses violations including unauthorized emissions above the allowed limit at a benzene storage tank, and failure to comply with regulatory requirements for an open-ended line. Conditions of the settlement include: installing advanced equipment on the benzene storage tank, enhanced monitoring using EPA Method 21 and Optical Gas Imaging, a third-party audit of all conservation or emergency vents storing benzene or Group 1 liquids, recordkeeping and reporting requirements, and updating permits as needed.
The Vopak settlement assesses a civil penalty of $168,000 and addresses violations at the company’s for-hire bulk storage terminal, which stores raw materials, product, and benzene-containing wastewater from an adjacent facility. Violations include unauthorized emissions from external floating roof tanks identified using EPA’s geospatial measurement of air pollution (“GMAP”) technology. The settlement requires the facility to conduct quarterly inspections of each floating roof tank, including rim seals; a permit and operations review conducted by an independent third-party auditor; and complete site-specific corrective actions.
The Westlake settlement includes a civil penalty of $825,000 and addresses violations of startup, shutdown, and malfunction requirements and unauthorized emissions, among others. The settlement requires the company to submit a performance testing plan and conduct an additional performance test of its two thermal oxidizers, submit to EPA a list of all pressure relief devices used for hazardous air pollutants; conduct audio, visual and olfactory monitoring of these devices for ten months; and ensure its startup/shut down/malfunction plan complies with all regulatory and permit requirements.
Dishonorable Mentions
- The U.S. EPA announced agreements with four companies (AES Puerto Rico in PR, Keystone-Conemaugh Projects in PA, Alabama Power Companyin AL, and Public Service Company of Colorado in CO) to settle violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act’s regulations related to coal ash surface impoundments and landfills. The settlements require companies to take certain actions including addressing groundwater monitoring issues, conducting effective and protective groundwater cleanup, addressing emergency planning, and paying a fine. AES’ fine is $71k, and AL Power’s is $278k
- Cinergy Entertainment Group, Inc., a Texas corporation operating multiple cinema and entertainment centers around the country, will pay $137,000 and provide other relief to settle a retaliation lawsuit brought by the EEOC, which alleged that the company just straight up told a worker in NC that she was not eligible for rehire because she filed a previous discrimination charge with the EEOC after being fired from a bartending position in 2022.
- VibraLife of Katy, LLC, a rehabilitation and assisted living facility in Katy, Texas, will pay $80,000 and furnish other relief to settle an EEOC disability discrimination and retaliation lawsuit that alleged an employee with a sleep disorder was hired for a position to work 36 hours, but then was told she would have to work 48 hours. When she requested an accommodation to only work the hours listed in the job posting, she was fired.
- Investigators with the U.S. DOL’s Wage and Hour Division found a South Carolina cleaning services provider misclassified 59 workers as independent contractors, resulting in the company paying employees straight-time rates for all hours worked over 40 instead of the time-and-a-half premium for overtime hours. The employer also failed to keep records of the amount of time worked by employees as required by law. The division recovered $53,044 for 59 workers.
- The U.S. DOL announced that its Mine Safety and Health Administration completed impact inspections in September 2024 at eight mines in Indiana, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin and issued 112 violations.
- The U.S. DOL filed a complaint after investigators with its Employee Benefits Security Administration found that since at least 2016, the companies Suffolk Administrative Services and Providence INsurance Company and their current and former executives – Alexander Renfro, William Bryan and Arjan Zieger – have marketed, sold and serviced employer-sponsored health benefit plans while collecting and diverting significant fees for themselves in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
- The U.S. DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has entered into an agreement with McKesson Medical-Surgical Inc., one of the nation’s largest distributors of medical supplies, to resolve alleged systemic hiring discrimination against nearly 900 Black, Hispanic and white applicants at its Grapevine, TX distribution facility.
- Sureste Property Group and its divisions, Sureste Property Services and Sureste Development, a real estate operating company and asset management firm in Atlanta, GA, agreed to pay $75,000 and provide other relief to settle a race discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC that alleged the company fired it’s only black employee because of his race
Some Good News
Fewer workers are dying from hazards where the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has focused its enforcement resources. Preliminary agency data show a decrease in fatalities the agency is mandated to investigate, including significant reductions in fatal injuries from trench collapses and falls, two of the leading causes of death among construction industry workers.
“These numbers are promising evidence that stronger enforcement and collaboration with labor and management, driven by the Biden-Harris administration’s worker-centered approach, is saving lives,” said Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Douglas Parker. “Most striking is the improvement in areas we have focused on with employers and unions. Our state program partners have also seen improvements.”
In fiscal year 2024, federal OSHA investigated 826 worker deaths, an 11 percent reduction from 928 in the previous year. Excluding Covid-related deaths, this is the lowest number of worker fatalities OSHA has been mandated to investigate since FY 2017.
OSHA’s National Emphasis Program on Falls, the leading cause of serious work-related injuries and fatalities in the construction industry, saw fatal falls investigated by federal OSHA drop from 234 to 189, a decrease of almost 20 percent. Preliminary data from state OSHA programs, pending validation by federal OSHA, indicates more than 15 percent fewer fatalities in state jurisdictions. Currently, federal OSHA covers about 60 percent of private-sector employees and approved state programs cover the remaining workers.
National reporting by federal and state OSHA programs shows worker deaths in trench collapses declined nearly 70 percent since calendar year 2022. Fatalities decreased from 39 in 2022 to 15 in 2023 and, to date, 12 in calendar year 2024. These decreases follow intensive outreach and education by OSHA and industry partners, work by state plans and aggressive enforcement under a “zero tolerance” policy for unprotected trenches, including immediate inspections and referrals for criminal prosecution where warranted.
