Region 1 News Release: 13-1988-NEW/BOS 2013-176
Oct. 22, 2013
Contact: Ted Fitzgerald Andre Bowser
Phone: 617-565-2075 617-565-2074
Email: fitzgerald.edmund@dol.gov bowser.andre.j@dol.gov

US Labor Department's OSHA cites Cicero, NY, metal hatch manufacturer
for 13 serious safety hazards
EJ USA Inc. faces $56,000 in fines

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited EJ USA Inc., a metal hatch manufacturer, for 13 violations of workplace safety standards at its Cicero plant. Proposed fines total $56,000 following an inspection begun in March by OSHA's Syracuse Area Office. The inspection was conducted under OSHA's Site Specific Targeting Program, which directs enforcement resources to high-hazard workplaces with the highest rates of injuries and illnesses.

OSHA's inspection found that EJ USA Inc. failed to institute a hearing protection program; prevent an overexposure to metal fumes, including hexavalent chromium; provide a handrail on stairs; cover containers of flammable liquids; keep ignition sources away from flammable liquids; maintain the airflow indicator on a spray booth; adequately clean combustible residue from a spray booth; lockout machinery while performing maintenance or conducting inspections of the lockout/tagout procedures; maintain limit switches on an overhead crane; and adequately guard machinery and guard live electrical parts. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

"Left uncorrected, these conditions place the plant's employees at risk of burns, electric shock, being caught in unexpectedly activated or unguarded machinery, hearing loss, falls and being exposed to hazardous substances," said Christopher Adams, OSHA's area director in Syracuse. "This employer must take prompt and effective action to abate these hazards and prevent their recurrence."

"To prevent potential hazards like these from occurring, employers should implement an effective illness and injury prevention program in which they will work with their employees to identify, address and eliminate hazards before they harm workers," said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional administrator in New York.

EJ USA Inc. has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Syracuse office at 315-451-0808.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

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U.S. Department of Labor news materials are accessible at http://www.dol.gov. The information above is available in large print, Braille or CD from the COAST office upon request by calling 292-693-7828 or TTY 292-693-7755.