Maverick Arms, Inc. fined $197K and cited by OSHA for 23 Safety & Health Violations

By: Jose G. Landa, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2015

Weapons Manufacturer, Maverick Arms, Inc. of Eagle Pass, Texas was fined $197,000 for one willful and 23 serious violations by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) following a planned inspection under the Regional Emphasis Program for Fabricated Metal Products, announced Alejandro Porter, Area Director of OSHA’s San Antonio, Texas Office.

The cited willful violation was given for failing to implement controls to reduce excessive noise levels. The serious violations include electrical, general industry falls and amputation hazards, along with failing to provide medical evaluations for respirator users, or to control and protect against lead exposure.

“Exposure to lead and high noise levels can cause long-term or permanent health damage,” said Alejandro Porter, OSHA’s Area Director in San Antonio, Texas. “Maverick Arms, Inc. has a responsibility to protect its workers by identifying and eliminating these hazards,” added Porter.

Maverick Arms, Inc. has 15 business days from receipt of its citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s Area Director, Alejandro Porter of San Antonio, or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

OSHA’s public documentation states that the inspections occurred from April 8, 2014 through May 29,2015 and the citations were issued on September 30, 2015. The Citation and Notification of Penalty describes violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

Among some of the more serious violations which Maverick Arms, Inc. was cited by OSHA include: Citation 1, Item No.2 29 CFR 1910.134(e)(l): The employer did not provide a medical evaluation to determine the employee’s ability to use a respirator, before the employee was fit tested or required to use the respirator in the workplace: a) Woodworking Area : On or about April 8, 2015, and at times prior thereto, employees were exposed to the hazards of particulate dust (wood dust), a lung irritant, when required to wear N95 respirators without medical assessment and approval. b) Dipping area: On or about April 8, 2015, and at times prior thereto, employees were exposed to the hazards of latex paint, a lung irritant, when required to wear N95 respirators without medical assessment and approval. The penalty for this violation is $6,000.

Another serious violation cited is: Citation 1, Item No. 3 Type of Violation: Serious 29 CFR 1910.1025(d)(6)(iii): Where the initial monitoring revealed that employee exposure to lead was above the permissible exposure limit, monitoring was not repeated at least quarterly and continued at the required frequency until least two consecutive measurements taken at least 7 days apart were below the PEL and at or above the action level. On or about April 8, 2015, and at times prior thereto, employees were exposed to the hazards of lead, when initial determination by the employer showed elevated levels of airborne lead dust where over the action level and permissible exposure limit, which were not retested quarterly, violation penalty $7,000.

Another serious violation Maverick Arms, Inc. was cited for is: Citation 1, item No. 7 , 29 CFR 1910.1025(h)(l): All surfaces were not maintained as free as practicable of accumulations of lead: Facility Wide. On or about April 8, 2015, and at times prior thereto, employees were exposed to the hazards of lead dust when other areas of the facility such as, but not limited to employee restrooms and break room, were not included in the Lead Housekeeping Program. Fine assessed is for $7,000.

Another serious violation received by Maverick Arms, Inc. is: Citation 1, Item No. 8 Type of Violation: Serious 29 CFR 1910.1200(f)(5)(ii): The employer did not ensure that each container of hazardous chemicals in the workplace was labeled, tagged or marked with the appropriate hazard warnings: On or about April 8, 2015, and at times prior thereto, employees were exposed to the chemical hazard of Activator IGJB-8T-2T (Xylene, Ethyl Benzene) without the required warning notifications or chemical information on the temporary container used. The fine is for $6,000.

Another serious violation cited against Maverick Arms, Inc. is: Citation No. 2, Item 1 Type of Violation: Willful 29 CFR 1910.95(b)(l): When employees were subjected to sound exceeding those listed in Table G-16, feasible administrative or engineering controls were not utilized: a) Proofing Room: On April 6, 2015, one employee proof testing firearms and was exposed to noise at a dose in excess of the 100% dose Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL), where noise sampling performed for 375 minutes indicated that the employee was exposed to a 907.1% noise dose which is equivalent to approximately 107.7 dBA. Zero exposure was assumed for 105 minutes not sampled this is 9 .1 times the PEL. The employer had not implemented engineering or administrative controls to reduce noise exposure to below the levels listed in Table G-16. This condition exposed the employee to a hazardous noise dose. There is 2 more violations for the same issues. The fine is for $7,000.

Another serious violation given to Maverick Arms, Inc. is: A citation for CFR 1910.212(a)(3)(ii): Points of operation of machinery were not guarded to prevent employees from having any part of their body in the danger zones during operating cycles. There were multiple occasions of this type of violations cited by the OSHA report.

In all there are multiple violations cited during the April 8, 2014 through May 29, 2015 OSHA inspections, totaling to $197,000 in proposed fines to Maverick Arms, Inc.

A complete list of the violations and report from OSHA on the Maverick Arms 2015 inspection can be found at www.osha.gov.

OSHA cited the serious violations by Maverick Arms, Inc. potentially endanger the safety, health, and welfare of its employees.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321- OSHA (6742) or the agency’s San Antonio office at 210-472-5040. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.