OSHA: Concrete Company Exposed Workers To Silica Hazards In Essex County

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Federal officials have slapped an Essex County concrete company with a $88,544 proposed fine after it allegedly exposed its workers to airborne silica hazards, according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Last week, OSHA officials announced that they issued the citation to the Kenvil-based County Concrete after conducting an inspection of its East Orange facility at 64 Glenwood Place on July 19.

The inspection was a follow-up to a 2013 settlement between the company and OSHA, during which the company was hit with 18 safety and health violations, and $153,900 in penalties, federal officials said.

The agency issued the repeated violation because the company again “failed to conduct annual tests to ensure that respirators fit employees properly while they were cleaning concrete mixers,” officials stated.

“Our follow-up inspection found that two County Concrete employees were exposed to silica above the permissible limit as they cleaned concrete mixers,” said Kris Hoffman, director of OSHA’s Parsippany Area Office. “In 2013, OSHA cited this company for these same hazards. Employers must bear the responsibility of fully complying with respiratory protection requirements to protect the safety and health of their workers.”

The employer has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

View the full citation online here.

According to the company’s website, it delivers ready-mixed concrete to clients in in Morris, Sussex, Essex, Passaic, Somerset, Hunterdon, Warren and Union counties.

It maintains locations in Kenvil, Sussex, Morristown, Oxford, East Orange and Flemington.

Photo: Google Maps

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