Jan. 11, 2006 — The U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued citations to Horsehead Corp. for alleged safety and health violations at its Monaca, Pa., facility. The citations carry proposed penalties totaling $186,750.

OSHA’s inspection was prompted by an accident where an employee stepped into an uncovered condenser pit full of molten zinc and suffered severe leg burns. The investigation yielded one willful citation, with a proposed penalty of $63,000, for the company's failure to cover the condenser pit that contained the molten zinc or to provide a guardrail to prevent employees from stepping into the open pit.

"Management knew of the molten zinc, but failed to inform employees of the potential hazard or take the steps to protect them," said Robert Szymanski, OSHA area director in Pittsburgh. "It's imperative that the company take immediate action to correct these violations to ensure the safety and health of its employees."

OSHA also issued 27 serious citations, with a proposed penalty of $111,150. Alleged violations include the company's failure to use an approved safety platform; failure to provide guardrails or protection barriers; failure to provide machine-specific procedural steps for the control of hazardous energy; failure to eliminate all hazards from a permit-required confined space before allowing employees to enter; failure to provide a hearing conservation program and protection from excessive noise exposure; and failure to protect employees from excessive lead and cadmium exposure. The company was also cited for 14 other-than-serious violations, with a penalty of $12,600, for failing to maintain required records of employee exposures to lead and cadmium.

Horsehead employs 650 workers at its Monaca facility. The zinc manufacturing company has 15 working days from receipt of the citations to appeal before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.