MILWAUKEE _ A Wisconsin shipyard faces $1.4 million in fines for allegedly exposing workers to lead and other hazards during the retrofitting of a Great Lakes vessel.
Fourteen employees at Fraser Shipyards Inc. in the northern Wisconsin city of Superior had lead levels up to 20 times the exposure limit, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Monday. The agency also found that workers were exposed to other heavy metals.
Overexposure to lead can result in brain damage and kidney disease, among other health issues. OSHA said Fraser Shipyards knew of the presence of lead and asbestos throughout the vessel Herbert C. Jackson, but ignored federal regulations, its own safety manuals and workers' concerns.
"Such behavior is unacceptable. No worker should be put at risk from exposure to hazards that can cause permanent health issues," said Ken Atha, OSHA's regional administrator in Chicago.
Fraser Shipyards declined comment. Interlake Steamship Co., of Middleburg Heights, Ohio, hired Fraser to modernize the Herbert C. Jackson under a $10 million contract, according to OSHA.
The agency said workers were exposed to lead and asbestos in the retrofitting of the ship during a six-month project at the shipyards. The $10 million contract required the company to meet specific deadlines to get the ship, built in 1959, back in service for the summer iron ore shipping season, according to OSHA.
"Fraser shipyards accepted a contract with a very low profit margin and penalties for delayed completion but could not meet the schedule without endangering its workers," David Michaels, assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA said in a news release.
The agency cited 14 "willful egregious health violations" for each instance of overexposing a worker to lead. It also cited five additional willful violations for failing to conduct monitoring to assess employee lead exposure, failing to implement a lead compliance program or a respiratory protection program for lead, and for failing to provide training on lead and asbestos hazards.
