Ohio Waste Management Firm Faces $602K in Fines After Worker’s Death

A U.S. Department of Labor investigation found that Clean Harbors Environmental Services Inc., an environmental and hazardous waste management service provider, failed to properly ventilate a confined space containing organic chemical residue at a customer’s facility in Twinsburg, Ohio, resulting in a worker fatality.

The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined the employer failed to implement legally mandated permit-required space entry requirements. Specifically, OSHA found that the employer failed to ventilate, test the environment and use non-entry rescue equipment, including a tripod, mechanical winch, and full-body retrieval harness.

OSHA cited Clean Harbors Environmental Services Inc. for violations including three willful and proposed $602,938 in penalties.

Source: OSHA