Text For Citation: 02 Item/Group: 015 Hazard: OTHER

KRS 338.031(1)(a): The employer did not furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees. a.At Environmental Management Group in Somerset, Kentucky where pathological waste was being stored at the facility for extended periods of time prior to being processed for decontamination. Several boxes of pathological waste were found to be present from January 23, 1998 to February 10, 1998. The company was operating under a permit, dated October 31, 1997, from the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet, Department for Environmental Protection, Division of Waste Management. The permit allowed the company to operate as a medical waste transfer site and stated the following: "You shall try to schedule the volume of waste reveived each operating day to the volume that can be processed during that day. No waste may be stored more than seventy two (72) hours at the facility prior to shipment for treatment or disposal". There were employee reports of pathological waste being kept at the facility for approximately four months. The employees were exposed to a recognizable hazard by performing duties which required handling, storage and decontamination of pathological waste (ie. appendages such as but not limited to human legs and arms).