Region 5 News Release: 12-427-CHI
March 21, 2012
Contact: Scott Allen Rhonda Burke
Phone: 312-353-6976 312-353-6976
Email: allen.scott@dol.gov burke.rhonda@dol.gov

US Department of Labor's OSHA cites ServiceMaster Clean for exposing
employees to lead, other hazards while cleaning Lancaster, Ohio, gun range

LANCASTER, Ohio – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited janitorial services company ServiceMaster Clean with one willful and four serious safety violations for failing to protect workers from lead exposure and other hazards while they were contracted to clean an indoor firing range in Lancaster. OSHA's inspection was initiated Sept. 30 based on a complaint. Proposed penalties total $98,000.

The willful violation is for failing to adequately monitor air quality for lead exposure. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.

The serious violations include failing to adequately assess job hazards for potential lead exposure, provide adequate training on personal protective equipment, provide an employee respiratory protection program, maintain material safety data sheets at the work site for all hazardous materials and provide adequate training on the hazards of lead exposure. 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.

"ServiceMaster Clean has the responsibility of ensuring that its employees are properly protected from known workplace hazards at a firing range, such as lead exposure," said Deb Zubaty, OSHA's area director in Columbus. "OSHA is committed to protecting workers, especially when employers fail to do so."

ServiceMaster Clean is a privately owned franchise in Lancaster with 50 employees. It is part of the ServiceMaster group, headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., which provides janitorial and disaster restoration services for residential and commercial customers.

The company 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 Columbus Area Office at 614-469-5582.

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.