Following a safety and health investigation, the U.S. Department of Labor has reached a settlement to resolve litigation against a Pennsylvania manufacturer. The investigation resulted in 17 affirmed violations of federal workplace safety standards at the Regal Industrial Corp. in Millville in 2022.
The settlement between the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the company affirms four willful, 11 serious and two other-than-serious citations—and proposed penalties of $299,000—issued after a complaint investigation begun on April 18, 2022.
OSHA cited the company for failing to do the following:
- Train employees on respirator use and medical evaluations to determine if they were physically capable of wearing respirators.
- Develop and implement a written hazard communication program.
- Maintain safety data sheets onsite and train employees on chemical hazards.
- Provide fall protection and machine guarding.
- Train forklift operators and certify them.
- Ensure safe use of electricity in areas where flammable paints were sprayed.
- Keep emergency exits unobstructed.
- Establish and follow a routine schedule for floor cleaning and removal of combustible residue.
- Ensure proper guarding of abrasive wheels on portable grinders.
As part of the settlement agreement, Regal Industrial Corp. must implement enhanced abatement measures. These include establishing a safety and health management program with clear safety and health goals; consulting with workers in developing, updating, implementing and evaluating the program; and identifying, assessing and documenting workplace hazards.
Regal will also establish and implement a plan to make identified hazards a priority and to control them, provide education and training to workers in a language and vocabulary they can understand and conduct a periodic review to determine if the program has been implemented as designed and is making progress toward its goals.
“This positive outcome demonstrates the value of the vigorous enforcement and litigation efforts by OSHA and the department’s Office of the Solicitor to ensure that employers come into compliance and make meaningful safety improvements for their workers,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Jeffrey S. Rogoff in New York.
Founded in Donora in 1974, Regal Industrial Corp. provides abrasive blasting, metallizing, and coating applications for steel and concrete structures such as bridges, marine structures, piping, and railings.
