Region 6 News Release: 11-828-DAL
June 2, 2011
Contact: Elizabeth Todd Juan Rodriguez
Phone: 972-850-4710 972-850-4709
Email: todd.elizabeth@dol.gov rodriguez.juan@dol.gov

US Labor Department's OSHA cites San Antonio-based Apex Enterprises
with 11 serious violations for exposing workers to multiple hazards

PFLUGERVILLE, Texas – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Apex Enterprises Inc. of San Antonio with 11 serious violations for exposing workers to fall, electrical and struck-by hazards at the company's worksite in Pflugerville. Proposed penalties total $40,200.

"Fall, electrical and struck-by hazards cause nearly two-thirds of all construction fatalities," said Casey Perkins, OSHA's area director in Austin. "Complacency regarding worker safety will not be tolerated."

OSHA began its inspection Feb. 18 at the company's worksite on Kelly Lane where workers were finishing a roof with peak heights of up to 40 feet without wearing personal fall protection devices. The inspection was conducted as part of a regional emphasis program on construction hazards.

The violations include failing to ensure employees were wearing personal fall protection equipment such as a full body harness with lanyard and deceleration device, to provide fall protection training for employees working on roof edges, to ensure the use of safety glasses and hard hats, to ensure electrical cords were free from exposed copper and to ensure ladders extended 3 feet above the landing surface. A serious violation is one in which there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

OSHA standards require that an effective form of fall protection, such as guardrails, safety nets or personal fall arrest systems, be in use when workers perform construction activities 6 feet or more above the next lower level. Detailed information on fall protection hazards and safeguards is available online at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/fallprotection/index.html.

Apex Enterprises has 15 business days from receipt of citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director in Austin, or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Employers and employees with questions about workplace safety and health standards can call OSHA's Austin Area Office at 512-374-0271 or the agency's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) to report workplace accidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers.

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.