OSHA cites Colorado chemical manufacturer after fatality
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The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Greeley, Colorado-based EnviroTech Services Inc. after an employee died due to lack of oxygen while cleaning the inside of a railcar.
A second employee who tried to rescue the co-worker was also injured but survived, OSHA said Thursday in a statement. EnviroTech Services faces $64,857 in proposed penalties, the agency said.
OSHA cited the chemical manufacturer for failing to provide respiratory protection, failing to properly ventilate a confined space, failing to implement a permit-required confined space program, and failing to have an emergency rescue plan in place, according to the statement.
“This fatality could have been prevented if the employer had complied with confined space requirements and provided protective equipment,” Herb Gibson, OSHA’s Denver area office director, said in the statement.
EnviroTech Services held an informal conference with OSHA’s area director to discuss the citations in an attempt to enter into an informal settlement agreement, OSHA said.
Officials with EnviroTech Services could not immediately be reached for comment.
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