Accident Scenarios
Factory owner exposes workers to mercury
Following an August 2022 mercury spill, four workers were diagnosed with mercury poisoning. The owner and the company pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment for exposing employees to hazardous mercury levels without proper ventilation or protective equipment. Exposure to mercury, a neurotoxin, can cause damage to the nervous system, lungs, kidney, heart and mental faculties.
The company knowingly endangered the lives and health of their employees by ignoring basic safeguards to control hazardous mercury in the workplace and failed to acknowledge its employees were being sickened by mercury exposure.
The company was fined $75,000 and faced a $97,000 civil assessment for OSHA violations. The owner received three years of probation and was ordered to comply with all health and safety standards.
Oil, gas waste company failed to protect workers from dangers of inhalation after employee suffers fatal injury.
In March of 2023, OSHA assessed $39,064 in proposed penalties, and issued citations to a production waste facility for six serious safety and health violations after the agency found the production waste facility exposed employees to serious chemical hazards.
At the time of the incident, the employee was skimming and suctioning out sludge water and oil byproducts from a pit. Specifically, OSHA cited the company for:
- Exposing employees to inhalation hazards.
- Not training employees on hazards associated with hydrogen sulfide exposure.
- Failing to provide a quick body drench or eye flush station for employees in the immediate work area where corrosive materials were present.
- Not performing a hazard assessment to determine if personal protective equipment was needed.
- Failing to protect employees from fall hazards of more than 4 feet.
- Not protecting employees from contacting energized circuits.
OSHA cites manufacturer for failing to protect workers before, during, after a hazardous chemical release
In January, 2024, OSHA initiated an inspection after being notified about an incident involving a release of nitrogen dioxide gas. The release occurred when chemicals reacted during processing by employees.
OSHA inspectors determined the company had taken no action to assess the impact of the release immediately and did not swiftly evacuate workers from the building as a precaution. Inspectors discovered that workers were exposed to nitrogen dioxide gas levels exceeding the chemical's ceiling limit, resulting in 12 employees being evaluated at a local hospital, with two of them requiring hospitalization.
Inspectors also determined that the company had no emergency response plan in place, and that its respiratory protection and hazard communication programs failed to meet federal requirements. OSHA has cited the company for one repeat violation, and nine serious and two other-than-serious violations.