All posts by Kit Case

Safety

Company Fined Over $1 Million After Explosion at Newport, WA, Plant

Zodiac Cabin & Structures Support LLC has been fined $1,316,000 for workplace safety and health violations following an explosion at its carbon fiber production plant north of Spokane. Seventeen workers were injured in the oven explosion at the Newport, Wash., facility last July.

 

A nearly six-month investigation by the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) concluded that the explosion could have been prevented if Zodiac had used required safety interlocks and safeguards to ensure that the curing oven was used safely and as advised in a consulting engineer’s report.

 

L&I cited the employer for 17 willful violations for knowingly and willfully exposing workers to the risk of serious injuries. The investigation found the company used defective equipment and didn’t ensure safe procedures were used when processing flammable materials in its industrial curing oven. Each violation carries the maximum penalty of $70,000.

 

“Had this explosion occurred during the day when many more workers were present, there could have been many more injuries and possibly even deaths,” said Anne Soiza, L&I assistant director of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health. “As it is, 17 people were injured and their lives put at risk from an incident that was highly predictable given the operating conditions.” 

 

Along with the willful violations, L&I cited the company for 18 serious violations, all with the maximum penalty of $7,000 because of the high potential for death or permanent serious harm.

 

Due to the danger of an explosion, specific safety interlock controls and other safety procedures were supposed to be in place before the highly flammable resins were used in the 90-foot drying oven. Those controls were not in place, despite the fact that Zodiac had advice from its contracted consulting engineer detailing the steps needed to ensure safe operation prior to using the flammable uncured resins.

 

The investigation found that flammable resins had been run through the oven a number of times prior to the explosion. L&I also discovered that 11 days before the incident, the plant was evacuated due to flammable vapors that created a risk of explosion in the same operation.

 

Four of the serious violations cited were for not ensuring effective energy control procedures were in place to protect workers when they had to reach inside the curing oven for cleaning, service or maintenance.

 

The company was also cited for eight “confined space” serious violations related to employees entering the 90-foot oven to perform cleaning, service or maintenance. Working inside a confined space area, such as the oven, without safety precautions can be deadly to both workers and would-be rescuers. Confined space hazards can include suffocation, toxic atmospheres, entrapment and other dangerous conditions that are fully preventable.

 

An additional six violations were related to failing to prevent ignition of flammable vapors and protect workers from inhaling harmful vapors and chemicals, such as from solvent and formaldehyde.

 

As a result of the willful violations, Zodiac Cabin & Structures Support LLC has been identified as a severe violator and will be subject to follow-up inspections to determine if the conditions still exist in the future.

 

The employer has 15 days to appeal the citation. Penalty money paid as a result of a citation is placed in the workers’ compensation supplemental pension fund, helping workers and families of those who have died on the job.

 

For a copy of the citation or photo, please contact public affairs at 360-902-5413.

Employer Fraud

Eastern Washington Painter Accused of Illegal Contracting Agrees to Stop

A Colville, WA painter facing criminal charges of unregistered contracting agreed this week to stop working illegally.

Terry Foster, 82, agreed in court that he must register with the state and pay court fees if he works as a construction contractor. He’s accused of working as a painter without registering with the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) and, in the past, has received nine civil infractions for unregistered contracting.

If Foster follows through with the agreement, breaks no criminal laws and pays $300 in court fees, criminal charges against him will be dismissed in two years, according to the Washington Attorney General’s Office.

If he violates any conditions of the agreement, the case will be reset for trial.

Faced three charges

Foster had faced three charges of unregistered contracting in Stevens County District Court in Colville, about 70 miles north of Spokane. Each is a gross misdemeanor punishable by up to 364 days in jail, a $5,000 fine or both.

He had been doing business under his own name and as “Terry the Consultant” and “Terry the Painter.” He served on the Colville City Council from late 2010 through April 2015.  

Tips from frustrated contractors

The case resulted from an L&I investigation. According to charging papers, L&I inspectors caught Foster or his son painting in Colville in 2013 and 2015 and in Chewelah in 2014. Contractors who were frustrated at having to compete against an unregistered contractor tipped off L&I to the job sites.

Since 2008, L&I has issued Foster nine civil infractions for unregistered contracting. The department is trying to collect more than $30,000 in fines and more than $130,000 for workers’ compensation insurance premiums that he owes L&I.

Law protects consumers, legal contractors

State law requires construction contractors to register with L&I, which confirms they are insured and bonded and meet other requirements. L&I can issue violators a civil infraction, refer them for criminal prosecution or both.

The registration requirement gives consumers some recourse if they have problems with a contractor, and prevents unregistered contractors from gaining an unfair advantage over law-abiding contractors.

 

Consumers can check whether contractors are registered at www.Lni.wa.gov/Verify.

 

Photo credit: Alain Wibert via Foter.com / CC BY-ND

workplace safety

Phillips 66 Refinery Fined Nearly $325,000 for Workplace Violations

Phillips 66 Refinery has been fined $324,000 for failing to correct serious workplace safety and health violations. A Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) inspection of the Ferndale, WA facility found the violations put refinery workers at great risk in case of a fire or explosion.

L&I cited the refinery for three instances of not correcting violations that it was previously cited for in September and October of 2014. These are considered “failure to abate” serious violations.

The 2014 citations are under appeal to the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals. State law requires employers to correct hazards even if the violations are under appeal, unless a “stay of abatement” is granted to allow a delay in making the corrections. The company’s stay of abatement request was denied by the board.

Two of the violations, each with a penalty of $108,000, involve the refinery’s firefighting and fire suppression systems. Phillips did not inspect or follow recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices in respect to the firefighting water tank or the buried firefighting water distribution piping. Inspection and maintenance of these systems is required by state regulation and the National Fire Protection Association. The company also failed to address the potential loss of firefighting water, which puts employees and emergency responders at risk of serious injuries, disability or death if the system were to fail during a fire or explosion.

L&I cited Phillips for a third “failure to abate” serious violation for not consulting established, peer-reviewed industry references before writing a policy related to opening chemical piping. This violation also comes with a $108,000 penalty.

The company’s hazard assessment allowed workers to be potentially exposed to hydrogen sulfide, a poisonous gas, and explosive flammable hydrocarbon vapors at much higher concentrations than considered safe. Employers in high-hazard chemical industries are expected to make sure that their internal policies and guidelines reflect current good engineering practices across those industries and that they meet local regulations, which may be stricter than national regulations.

The employer has 15 days to appeal the citation. Penalty money paid as a result of a citation is placed in the workers’ compensation supplemental pension fund, helping workers and families of those who have died on the job.

 

Photo credit: RVWithTito via Foter.com / CC BY

Port of Seattle

Port 101 Tour, Ship Canal

A couple of months ago, Causey Law Firm gave me the opportunity to take part in a tour of Seattle’s Fishermen’s Terminal, Ship Canal, and the surrounding Ballard Locks.  The tour was put on by Port of Seattle, and was part of their “Ship 101” tour series.  Through this tour, I came to appreciate just how essential the area is to the shipping and fishing industries of the Northwest.

Our tour started at Fishermen’s Terminal, where we loaded onto Argosy Cruises’ Lady Mary and disembarked to snake through the Terminal’s aisles of docked boats.  Fishermen’s Terminal serves as a freshwater haven, providing moorage for over 600 of the Pacific Northwest’s fishing and pleasure vessels. 

While moorage for pleasure craft was first allowed back in 2001, the Terminal has still retained its industrial roots.  Fishing boats were everywhere I looked, and the places on shore seemed to primarily serve the fishermen and women heading to and from the rich fishing areas off the coast of Alaska.  As the Lady Mary shimmied its way to the Ship Canal proper, I could see dozens of ships, large and small, streaming sparks and glimmering with fresh paint as repair crews made sure they were ready for their next voyage.  Maritime business seems to thrive here, with Vigor Industrial building and repairing boats, Ballard Oil fueling them, Trident Seafood processing their goods, and Foss Maritime shipping those goods and providing towboats as needed.  

In fact, Seattle’s highly experienced maintenance, repair, and shipbuilding workforce is a key factor driving Alaskan fishing fleets to travel all the way down to moor at Fishermen’s terminal.  Another is the fact that the Terminal’s moorage is in freshwater, which is significantly less corrosive on ships’ hulls than seawater.  Furthermore, the Terminal is home to a variety of facilities that serve the crews themselves.  Restaurants, a barber shop, maritime law offices, safety training schools, and a post office inhabit Fisherman’s Terminal, providing fishermen easy access to the services they need most. 

Freshwater moorage would not be possible without the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks.  Commonly known as the Ballard Locks, it provides boats a way to travel between Puget Sound and Lake Washington by traversing a series of chambers and gates that slowly raise or lower the vessel into the desired waterway.  The locks ensure that The Boat Canal and Lake Washington maintain the salinity of their freshwater by keeping them roughly 20 feet higher in elevation than the salty Puget Sound’s low tide.  The locks also have a fish ladder, allowing migrating salmon to travel to and from spawning grounds.  Perhaps what surprised me most was that this unassuming yet incredibly useful feat of engineering carries more boat traffic than any other lock in the United States, and attracts over a million visitors annually.  With botanical gardens just across the canal from industrial wharves and marinas, it was refreshing to see a space where form and function melded so easily.

After the Lady Mary returned to its moorage at Fishermen’s Terminal, I thanked the tour guides for their informative narrations and, on a whim, decided to grab a bite to eat.  I walked towards a Fishermen’s Terminal pub just as fishermen and support staff got off their shifts and headed in the same direction.  As I dug into a basket of fish and chips and slurped a local IPA after my not-so-long and not-so-treacherous voyage, I couldn’t help but admire the workers that began to fill the place.   I may be a landlubber, but it felt good to be surrounded by these hard-working men and women, and for a moment I almost felt like one of them.  Almost. 

 

Photo credit: Tim Buss via Foter.com / CC BY

Worker Benefits

Port of Seattle Commission Passes Paid Parental Leave

The Port of Seattle Commission approved a motion to provide four weeks of paid parental leave for non-represented employees during the 12 months following the birth, adoption, or placement of a foster child in the employee’s home – effective Jan. 1, 2016.
 
“This action ensures that every Port employee will have dedicated paid leave to recover from birth and/or bond with a new child,” said Port of Seattle Commission Co-President Courtney Gregoire. “We recognize those first days and weeks are important to the health of all the members of the family. Not only will paid family leave help the port attract and retain quality employees, it establishes a policy fundamental to supporting more women in the workforce.”
 
City Councilmember Jean Godden testified in favor of the motion and the positive impact it has had since the City of Seattle implemented a similar program this spring. King County is also expected to begin a paid parental leave program in the coming months.
 
The proposed parental leave plan will offer four weeks of paid time off to both men and women. The time must be taken in one consecutive block. The estimated annual cost of $250,000 is based on an estimated 32 eligible non-represented employees using the benefit each year.

 

Photo credit: MandoBarista via Foter.com / CC BY-SA

Uncategorized

Uber drivers win Seattle vote on collective-bargaining rights

Today’s post was shared by Workers Compensation and comes from www.propertycasualty360.com

While the Seattle vote is aimed at giving drivers more of a say in their job conditions, it’s not clear how this will work in practice with Uber, Lyft and any other car-booking company. (Photo: Thinkstock)
While the Seattle vote is aimed at giving drivers more of a say in their job conditions, it’s not clear how this will work in practice with Uber, Lyft and any other car-booking company. (Photo: Thinkstock)

(Bloomberg) — Seattle’s City Council voted unanimously to give collective bargaining rights to drivers-for-hire, such as those who work for ride-share companies Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc.

The bill, proposed by city council member Mike O’Brien, requires taxicab and for-hire car companies to negotiate with a "driver representative" over the terms and conditions of work, if a sufficient number of drivers choose to be represented.

For-hire drivers are generally considered independent contractors by the companies who employ them, and aren’t covered by the National Labor Relations Act, which allows collective bargaining. Independent contractors also aren’t entitled to labor standards such as minimum wage, health and safety guidelines or reimbursements for work-related costs. While the Seattle vote is aimed at giving drivers more of a say in their job conditions, it’s not clear how this will work in practice with Uber, Lyft and any other car-booking company.

"Lyft drivers are entirely in control of where or when they work, and this flexibility is exactly why the service is so popular with with people looking to make extra income," said Sheila Bryson, a spokeswoman for San Francisco-based Lyft. "Unfortunately,…

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Uncategorized

Congress extends the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act

Today’s post was shared by Jon L Gelman and comes from workers-compensation.blogspot.com

The United States Congress has voted to extend the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act as part of a major spending bill that now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law. The bill will extend the World Trade Center Health Program to 2090, and provide full compensation to survivors and first responders through the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund.

The two programs were in the process of shutting down after Congress missed a September 30 reauthorization deadline. In the end, 68 Senators, and 272 House Members backed the bill.

“Our courageous first responders stepped up when our country needed them the most . During the September 11thattacks, thousands of brave first responders sacrificed their safety for the good of our country and as a result have been forced to battle serious health issues,” said U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ). “In New Jersey, over 5,000 survivors and first responders still require medical treatment because of their exposure in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. The permanent extension of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act will enable us to give these courageous Americans the respect and care they rightly deserve.”

“As someone who first introduced the Zadroga Act and had to fight to pass it that first time, I am thrilled that we are fulfilling our moral obligation as a grateful nation to support our first responders and send a powerful message to all future first responders that we…

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Uncategorized

U.S. Veterans: ‘Burn Pits’ Created Toxic Clouds That Led To Ailments

Today’s post was shared by Jon L Gelman and comes from kuow.org

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  • A U.S. airman tosses uniforms into a burn pit at Balad Air Base, Iraq, in 2008. The military destroyed uniforms, equipment and other materials in huge burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some veterans now say those pits are responsible for respiratory problems they are now experiencing.
    A U.S. airman tosses uniforms into a burn pit at Balad Air Base, Iraq, in 2008. The military destroyed uniforms, equipment and other materials in huge burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some veterans now say those pits are responsible for respiratory problems they are now experiencing.

In 2008, Army Reserve Capt. LeRoy Torres returned home to Robstown, Texas, after a tour in Iraq. He went back to work as a state trooper with the Texas Highway Patrol.

Torres was a long-time runner. So when a suspect took-off on foot one morning, Torres sprinted after him. But something was wrong. A burning sensation in his chest hurt so bad, it almost knocked him down.

"I was able to catch-up, but afterwards, my goodness, I remember just — I laid on the ground, I was so exhausted," Torres says. "One of my buddies said, ‘Man what’s wrong?’ I said, ‘Man I don’t know. I just feel really, really tired — my chest feels really tight. I don’t know.’ I couldn’t catch my breath."

A few years later, Torres was diagnosed with a rare disease called constrictive bronchiolitis. Scars in his lungs block the flow of air.

He’s among a growing number of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who believe their respiratory ailments are linked to burn pits. These were acres-wide mounds of waste near bases that contained everything from batteries to vehicle scraps to amputated body parts. The refuse was usually ignited with jet fuel.

"What people don’t…

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Uncategorized

Employer Permitted to Use Facebook Photos to Challenge Injured Workers Claims Without Prior Notice

Today’s post was shared by Jon L Gelman and comes from workers-compensation.blogspot.com

Editor’s note: Make a New Years resolution to verify your Facebook privacy settings are secure. kc

An employer was permitted to utilize photographs taken from Claimant’s public Facebook as impeachment evidence without prior notice to Claimant. Public Facebook photographs of Claimant holding her grandson with her injured arm and hand as impeachment evidence against Claimant.

The Employer did not have to provide prior notice to the Claimant of "video" evidence.

Court held that it was not prejudicial to admit the Claimant’s Facebook images into evidence.

MacFadyen v Total Care Physicians, C.A. No. N15A–05–001 ALR, 2015 WL 9303624 (2015 Del.Super.), Decided December 15, 2015.

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Shipping

Port of Seattle Prepares for Megaships – Design Phase Test Pile Driving

Seattle is making preparations to allow megaships to pull into Seattle as another west-coast shipping option at Terminal 5.  This terminal is currently the only one with direct rail access, greatly reducing the short-haul trucking required on Seattle’s crowded surface streets between the dock and the rail yards.

Contractors will begin driving test piles at Terminal 5 in Seattle the first week of January. The installation will last through March.  The pile driving and testing is part of the design phase of the terminal’s improvements.
 
Planned dock improvements will make the terminal capable of accommodating heavier cranes and provide deeper drafts to handle the megaships cascading into the trans-Pacific trade. These terminal improvements are aimed at helping us compete in a changing marketplace to support the jobs we have and create new ones, while continuing to drive economic benefits for our communities and customers.
 
Test results could help reduce the final number of piles required and refine the depth of installation during berth construction. This could help save money and reduce construction-related noise.
 
About 27 piles will be installed at the edge of the Terminal 5 wharf. Installation and testing will take place 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays in compliance with the City of Seattle’s noise ordinance.
 
Once installed, some of the piles will be tested using a method known as rapid-load testing. The testing sounds like a half-second cannon shot. The sound can be as loud as 145 decibels at a distance of 50 feet. Nine tests are planned, with no more than one test per day.

Questions about the pile driving and testing may be directed to 206-787-6886 or Terminal5_Outreach@portseattle.org.

Photo credit – Hanjin megaship passes under the Golden Gate Bridge – ship-technology.com