The U.S. Postal Service failed to overturn Occupational Safety and Health Administration citations alleging asbestos-related safety violations at its Kenton Station facility in Portland, Oregon, with an Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission judge affirming four violations and assessing $22,460 in penalties.
In the decision, issued March 16 but made public Monday, an administrative law upheld two repeat-serious violations and two other-than-serious violations tied to asbestos training, housekeeping and hazard communication requirements at the facility, which was inspected after a complaint about possible asbestos exposure.
The judge found USPS failed to ensure custodial employees received required annual asbestos awareness training while working in areas containing asbestos-containing material. He also found the agency failed to keep surfaces as free as practicable of asbestos-containing waste, debris and dust, citing evidence that the building’s floors were worn, dull and insufficiently maintained.
Judge Augustine also affirmed two hazard communication violations, finding USPS did not maintain a hazardous chemical list at the facility that included asbestos and did not keep a safety data sheet for asbestos readily accessible to employees. However, he reduced both items from repeat to other-than-serious violations, finding OSHA had not shown the prior citations involved substantially similar hazards.
The judge assessed penalties of $7,260 for the asbestos training violation, $13,200 for the housekeeping violation, $1,500 for the hazardous chemical list violation and $500 for the safety data-sheet violation.
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