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Gopher Resource faces fines of more than $ 319,000 after a state investigation found the company intentionally exposed workers to high levels of lead in the air.
The investigation, opened by the Labor Protection Agency in April, was sparked by a Tampa Bay Times series of Gopher’s troubled lead factory.
The Times discovered that air levels of lead in the Tampa factory were often hundreds of times the state limit – exposing hundreds of employees to serious health problems.
On Thursday, OSHA cited Gopher for 44 violations, including one “willful” violation for failing to provide adequate respiratory protective equipment to workers exposed to high levels of lead in four different departments. That quote alone – OSHA’s most severe – is fined $ 136,532.
The total sentence appears to be one of the highest in Florida since 2015, according to a Times review of OSHA press releases and data.
Debbie Berkowitz, a former senior OSHA official, called it “very extensive” and predicted it would be one of the largest released by the agency this year.
In a statement, Danelle Jindra, OSHA area manager in Tampa, said that Gopher “put his bottom line above the safety and well-being of its workers.”
“Every worker has the right to a secure job and should never have to choose between his or her own health and livelihood,” said Jindra. “Continuing to put workers at risk is unacceptable and OSHA will continue to hold employers like Gopher Resource accountable.”
Read more: POISONING: Part 1: The Factory
Gopher said the report is still under review but has “implemented most of OSHA’s recommendations.” The other recommendations, the company added, were “given top priority”.
Gopher said it disagreed with some of OSHA’s findings – and believed the results on respirators were based on “inaccurate data and interpretation.” The company did not provide any information.
Before April, OSHA had not visited the plant for five years. On previous visits, inspectors have repeatedly overlooked evidence of problems and failed to hold Gophers accountable, the Times noted.
“OSHA overlooked this danger in previous inspections,” said Berkowitz. “Then they could have prevented it.”
The Agency Thursday’s report was 67 pages and encompassed a large number of violations, 34 of which were classified as “serious”.
On the topics: Workers are allowed to sweep and shovel dangerous lead dust, share damaged protective equipment, and expose cadmium and inorganic arsenic, two other toxic metals known to cause cancer.
OSHA inspectors found that workers in the furnace section were exposed hundreds of times above the agency’s exposure limit.
They found lead dust coating surfaces in lunch and locker rooms.
They found that workers in the blast furnace and refinery areas were exposed to too much arsenic and cadmium, and that gopher did not have the appropriate mechanical systems to limit exposure.
Read more: POISONING: Part 2: The Mistakes
Arsenic dusted the knob of a drink cooler.
The bathrooms were dirty and dusty and there was no soap to wash your hands. Emergency exits were blocked and fire extinguishers were missing. Protective suits for workers were left uncleaned and in contaminated areas.
Gopher has 15 days to comply with OSHA recommendations or to contest the results.
US Representative Kathy Castor, a Tampa Democrat who Asked for the OSHA review after reading the Times report, called the situation at Gopher “a failure on all levels”.
“These violations by Gopher make it clear that our neighbors’ health was at risk every day when they came to work with damaged, lead-exposed equipment,” she said in a statement. “Nobody should be forced to choose between a paycheck and a dangerous job.”
Castor called the federal move “an important step in making gophers responsible for their crimes,” but also stressed the need to update federal occupational safety standards.
“While the Tampa Bay Times’ outstanding investigative journalism brought these working conditions to light, it shouldn’t take a newspaper discovery to keep our workers safe at work,” she said. “A 50-year-old law can prevent the workplace of the 21st
US MP Charlie Crist, D-St. Petersburg, called the OSHA results “appalling”.
“It’s an environmental disaster; it’s a human tragedy, ”he said. “It’s clearly about profit over people.”
Read more: Public Health Officials Call For Lower Lead Limits
The Times series found that the majority of Gopher employees had enough lead in their blood from 2014 to 2018 to increase their risk of high blood pressure, kidney dysfunction, or cardiovascular disease. The Times also identified more than a dozen current and former workers who had a heart attack or stroke before they were 60.
Gopher knew it had a problem with lead dust, but it disabled ventilation functions and provided workers with inadequate breathing apparatus. And the contract doctor didn’t tell workers if their blood lead levels were putting them at risk.
Earlier this month, the Times reported that Gopher, too struggled to keep the cadmium level in the plant.
In addition to soliciting an OSHA review, the Times report called a former worker is suing Gopher for exposing his son and Moody’s downgrades Gopher’s credit rating.
Local environmental authorities has also opened an investigation and reported more than two dozen potential violations.
The company recycles car batteries by melting them down and forging new blocks to sell to battery and ammunition manufacturers.
OSHA on Thursday also cited a second Tampa company with ties to the smelter.
A&B Maintenance & Construction Inc. also received a subpoena for exposing their Tampa factory workers to be executives.
The company is offering additional maintenance on site, OSHA said. They face fines of $ 16,384.
This story is part of a collaboration with the Tampa Bay Times through FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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The post OSHA fines Tampa lead factory $ 319,000 | FRONTLINE | PBS first appeared on Daily Florida Press.from Daily Florida Press https://dailyfloridapress.com/osha-fines-tampa-lead-factory-319000-frontline-pbs/
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