Region 3 News Release: 12-898-NEW (osha 12-054)
May 21, 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 cites Clifton, NJ, scrap metal recycler
for exposing workers to safety and health hazards

CLIFTON, N.J. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Park Stein Inc., doing business as Parkway Iron and Metal, for three repeat and 16 serious violations at the company's Clifton facility. OSHA opened an inspection in response to a complaint alleging hazards. Proposed penalties total $77,770

"These violations leave employees vulnerable to hazards that can cause serious injury and possible death," said Lisa Levy, director of OSHA's Hasbrouck Heights Area Office. "It's vital that the company take the necessary steps to establish a safe and healthy work environment."

The repeat violations include the company's failure to provide proper personal protective equipment, conduct a hazard assessment of the workplace and provide hazard communication training. The citations carry $21,560 in penalties. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. The company was cited for the same violations in March 2010.

The serious violations involve the lack of a hearing conservation program, inadequate personal protective equipment, improper storage of gas cylinders, an inoperable alarm on a front-end loader, floor holes, missing platform handrails, a blocked fire exit, the removal of valves on compressed gas cylinders, the lack of lockout/tagout procedures to control machines' energy sources, powered industrial trucks left unattended, the lack of valve caps on compressed gas cylinders and various electrical hazards. 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. The citations carry $56,210 in penalties.

"A first step toward a safer, healthier workplace is to develop and implement an illness and injury prevention program in which management and workers proactively identify and eliminate hazardous conditions," said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional administrator in New York.

Parkway Iron and Metal is a scrap metal recycling facility that employs 36 workers. The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, ask for an informal conference with OSHA's area director or contest the citations and proposed penalties 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.

###

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.