Federal authorities have fined an Atlanta manufacturer $239,439 for a series of health and safety violations that included exposing workers to cancer-causing and other dangerous chemicals while providing them with insufficient information and training.
Southern Industrial Chemicals Inc., which operates as SIC Technologies, has been cited by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for “a staggering 67 serious violations,” the government said.
“Chemical exposures can lead to incurable and life-altering conditions, so it’s vital that employers take immediate steps to recognize and mitigate life-threatening hazards,” said Jeffery Stawowy, director of OSHA’s Atlanta office. “Southern Industrial Chemicals failed to make employee safety and health a priority.”
Employees at the company said the company’s president, Wayne Chandler, has been out on medical leave and that questions were being referred to an attorney. A message asking for comment from that lawyer was not immediately returned.
A DOL spokeswoman said OSHA referred to the list of problems as “staggering” because of the large number of violations cited. However, there have been other cases with many more. In 2009, more than 700 citations were issued to Houton-based BP Products North America, she said.
BP was fined more than $81 million.
Since 2015, the highest penalty issued in Georgia was $654,726, a fine assessed to HP Pelzer Automotive Systems of Thomson, 120 miles east of Atlanta.
Among the problems cited by OSHA at Southern Industrial, which makes products for various metal-based processes, are that Southern Industrial failed to provide controls that would reduce employee exposures to hexavalent chromium.
That compound is “a well-established occupational carcinogen associated with lung cancer and nasal and sinus cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
The company also needs to provide laboratory employees with information and training on hazardous chemicals in the lab, OSHA said.
Officials also said the company did not have the required facilities for quickly washing eyes or body in the event of workers coming into contact with dangerous chemicals. OSHA said the company also did not have drums and containers for the collection of waste that met federal requirements.
The company also did not have a “comprehensive hazard communication program” for the employees who handed and used hazardous chemicals, OSHA said.
American workers suffer more than 190,000 illnesses and approximately 50,000 deaths annually related to chemical exposures, according to OSHA. The agency said its website provides an overview of chemical hazards and toxic substances as a guideline for recognizing hazards and controlling dangerous exposures.
OSHA officials said the company has 15 business days from receipt of their citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
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