Region 3 News Release: 12-2426-NEW (osha 12-133)
Dec. 27, 2012
Contact: Leni Fortson Joanna Hawkins
Phone: 215-861-5102 215-861-5101
Email: uddyback-fortson.lenore@dol.gov hawkins.joanna@dol.gov

US Labor Department's OSHA fines Union, NJ, contractor $41,580 for
repeat electrical hazards at Fort Lee, NJ, work site

UNION, N.J. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Bender Enterprises Inc., based in Union, with three repeat violations for continuing to expose workers to electrical hazards at a Fort Lee work site. OSHA's June investigation was initiated following a referral from the Fort Lee Police Department when a worker was injured while servicing an electrical panel. Proposed penalties total $41,580.

The repeat violations include failing to protect workers from contact with live electrical parts, provide eye and face protection from electric arcs, flashes or flying objects, and provide insulated tools and equipment for workers exposed to energized conductors or circuit parts. Similar violations were cited at the Upper Saddle River work site in 2008.

"By failing to address these hazards, Bender Enterprises continues to unnecessarily put its workers in harm's way," said Lisa Levy, director of OSHA's Hasbrouck Heights Area Office. "Employers will be held legally responsible for jeopardizing the safety and health of workers."

Bender Enterprises has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA 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 Hasbrouck Heights office at 201-288-1700.

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, audio tape or disc from the COAST office upon request by calling 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755.