The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Painting company cited for OSHA violations

AK Steel to raise prices for carbon steel
10:41 a.m.
State jobless rate jumps to 10.5 percent
10:12 p.m.
Waste gas could power Middletown Works
11/20/09
FAA: Cause of flight delays has been cleared up
11/19/09
Computer glitch delaying flights
11/19/09
> More headlines

By Ryan Gauthier, Staff Writer 10:27 PM Friday, November 13, 2009

A Cincinnati-based painting company is facing $321,000 in fines for alleged violations incurred while blasting paint from two bridge overpasses on I-75 near Middletown.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the company on Monday, Nov. 9, based on an inspection in May 2009. Cincinnati Area OSHA Director Richard Gilgrist said the inspection revealed nine alleged willful and two serious violations.

“OSHA has particular emphasis programs for lead hazards, which blasting bridges is known to create,” Gilgrist said. “Violations were a lot more common in the early part of the ’90s, but have tapered off recently.”

Hazards identified as willful include a lack of appropriate respirators and protective clothing, failure to maintain eating areas free of lead contamination and failure to remove lead dust from equipment before workers entered designated eating areas, according to OSHA.

Four of those willful violations are classified as egregious, allowing OSHA to assess penalties for every instance of the violation rather than proposing a single penalty for all violations of a specific OSHA regulation.

Gilgrist said the violations relate to UCL not providing protective clothing to four employees who were blasting the bridge, which typically releases high concentrations of lead paint into the air.

“Even though there may not be a high concentration of lead in the paint itself, the dust cloud created contains high concentrations,” Gilgrist said. “The serious issue is taking that lead home on their clothing, exposing their entire family to lead’s deadly effects.”

UCL owner Pete Kontopos described the charges and absurd and unfair, saying he hopes to put them to rest in the near future. Kontopos said workers’ clothing is often damaged due to the nature of the job.

“They’re wearing Tyvek coveralls and because of the environment we’re working in they can get torn apart,” Kontopos said. “They should’ve worn another pair, but because of some negligence now I have to pay a fine.”

A release from OSHA said UCL has received numerous citations in the past, many of which were for violations of federal lead standards. Kontopos previously owned United Painting Co., which Gilcrest said was cited repeatedly by OSHA for lead standard violations.

UCL is currently under investigation for an Aug. 27 fatal accident along the same Interstate-75 construction corridor, according to OSHA.

UCL has 15 days to either appeal the citations to an OSHA commission or meet with the area director to discuss them. Gilgrist confirmed UCL had scheduled an informal conference with him.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2871 or at rgauthier@coxohio.com.

Share this article